MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/CNN) – Authorities in Minnesota are investigating the shooting death of an Australian woman, who reportedly called police to the scene.
Police responded to a possible assault call Saturday around 11:30 p.m.
At the scene, a Minneapolis police officer fired their weapon, killing a woman, according to investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Friends and neighbors say the woman killed was Justine Damond, a yoga instructor and life coach, originally from Sydney, Australia.
A man claiming to be Damond’s son said in a Facebook video that she is the one who called 911 after hearing a noise in the alley near their home.
"I just know that she heard a sound in the alley, so then she called the police and the cops showed up. She was a very passionate woman … and she thought that something bad was happening, and next thing, I know they took my best friend’s life,” the man, named Zach, said.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges issued a statement saying she is “heartsick and deeply disturbed about this incident.”
The officers involved didn’t have their body cameras turned on, and there’s no squad car surveillance, according to the BCA.
Hodges says she doesn’t understand why the officers didn’t have their body cameras on at the time.
More than 200 people, including social activists, gathered for a vigil Sunday near the spot where Damond died hours earlier.
The BCA, who is in charge of the case, is trying to determine if any video evidence of what happened exists.
The two officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
Warning: The Facebook video below contains language that some might find offensive.
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