'Split-second decision': Cop felt he had 'no other choice' but to shoot Australian woman Justine Damond
A former police officer in the US has said he made a “split second decision” when he pulled his weapon and shot an unarmed Australian woman dead.
Prosecutor Amy Sweasy criticised former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor for his decision to shoot the 40-year-old who approached his squad car.
She suggested on Friday that he had "no basis" to believe Justine Ruszczyk Damond had a weapon when he couldn't see her hands.
Sweasy pressed Noor to explain why he didn't choose another option before he shot Damond in July 2017, just minutes after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her house.
She asked Noor why he couldn't have told Damond to step back, tell his partner to drive, or tell his partner to get down.
"I had to make a split-second decision," Noor testified.
He said he felt he had no other choice but to shoot under the circumstances, after he heard a bang on the driver's side of the squad car.
He said his partner looked afraid and tried to pull out his gun, and then saw a woman at the driver's side window, raising her arm.
Noor's testimony came near the end of the fourth week in his trial on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the US and Australia.
The defence rested its case at the end of Friday's court day.
The prosecution is expected to call at least one rebuttal witness on Monday before closing arguments, and the judge told jurors to expect to begin deliberating Monday.
The death of Ms Damond, a life coach who was engaged to be married a month after her death, sparked anger and disbelief in both the US and Australia.
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