6 More Excused From Jury in Trial of Cop Who Shot 911 Caller

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Six more potential jurors were excused Wednesday from hearing the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home.

Mohamed Noor, 33, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual Australian-U.S. citizen who had approached Noor's squad car after summoning police to the alley behind her home. Noor has declined to speak to investigators, but his attorneys plan to argue that he acted in self-defense.

Attorneys and the judge agreed to excuse five potential jurors based on their written answers to questions such as their experiences with a person of Somali heritage. Noor is Somali American. One of the dismissed jurors wrote that Noor "shouldn't have been a cop" and should be "punished."

Another juror, a young man whose uncle was shot in a gas station robbery, was questioned in court and excused after he said his family are hunters, but he found it "hard to understand why anyone would fire a weapon at another human and take their life."

A total of 12 potential jurors have been excused so far. A pool of 75 potential jurors filled out questionnaires Monday.