Officer who shot 911 caller sentenced

A former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder was sentenced Friday to 12½ years in prison for the shooting of an unarmed woman who had called 911. He apologized in court for “taking the life of a perfect person.”

Mohamed Noor, 33, was convicted in April of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Noor shot Damond when she approached his squad car in the alley behind her home.

“I have lived with this, and I will continue to live with this,” Noor said in court, his voice breaking. “I caused this tragedy, and it is my burden.” He said from the moment he pulled the trigger he felt fear, and when he saw her body on the ground he was horrified. Noor’s lawyers had argued for a light sentence, saying that incarceration won’t let him do service to make amends for killing Damond, but Judge Kathryn Quaintance followed state sentencing guidelines.