Defense: Cop shot woman after 'perfect storm' of events

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman who approached his squad car minutes after calling 911 was caught up in "a perfect storm" of events but "acted as he was trained," his attorney argued Monday.

Prosecutors countered that Mohamed Noor was responsible for "a tragic event of his own making" in 2017 when he shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual U.S.-Australia citizen who had summoned police when she heard a possible rape in the alley behind her home. They urged jurors to find Noor guilty on all counts.

The case went to the jury almost a month after jury selection began in a catastrophic shooting that prompted anger and disbelief in the U.S. and abroad. Noor, who was fired after he was charged , faces two counts of murder and one of manslaughter. The jury broke for the day Monday evening without a quick verdict and was to return Tuesday morning. Jurors are sequestered until reaching a verdict.

Noor's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, launched his closing by banging on his lectern, shouting a profanity and yelling, "Pow!"

Plunkett was recreating testimony by Noor that he heard a loud bang right before Damond approached his squad car, followed by his partner swearing and struggling to pull out his gun. Noor testified he saw Damond raise her right arm before he fired.

"It's the perfect storm," Plunkett said. "That is the whole case."

He urged jurors to look at the precise moment of the shooting, without the benefit of hindsight, and consider whether a reasonable officer would do the same thing when confronted by the same factors as Noor.

"Mr. Noor acted as he was trained. He acted as a reasonable police officer," Plunkett said.

Earlier, prosecutor Amy Sweasy attacked Noor's credibility and questioned his claim that he and partner...