Mohamed Noor: ex-officer who killed unarmed woman freed on parole

A former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home has been released from prison on parole, months after his murder conviction was overturned and he was resentenced on a lesser charge.

The Minnesota department of corrections website said Mohamed Noor, 36, was placed under the supervision of Hennepin county community corrections. He was freed 18 days shy of the fifth anniversary of the 15 July 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual US-Australian citizen and yoga teacher who was engaged to be married.

A corrections department spokesman, Nicholas Kimball, confirmed that Noor was released on Monday morning. He said he could not confirm where Noor will be living, but that released offenders are generally supervised by the county where they live. He said Noor was held in North Dakota for most of his sentence and had no disciplinary issues in prison.

Noor was initially convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter, but last year the Minnesota supreme court tossed out his murder conviction and 12-and-a-half-year sentence, saying that charge did not apply to the case. He was resentenced to four years and nine months on the manslaughter charge.

In Minnesota, it is presumed that a defendant with good behavior will serve two-thirds of a sentence in prison and the rest on parole. Noor will be on supervised release until 24 January 2024.