Cop accused of murder seeks squad car to recreate shooting

A policeman accused of murdering an Australian in Minneapolis last year has asked to borrow a squad car to recreate the shooting Friday, when lighting conditions are expected to be the same.

Mohamed Noor shot Justine Damond as she approached his car, having alerted police to what sounded like a rape taking place in a dark alley behind her home.

His attorneys want to replicate the lighting conditions from the evening of the shooting, according to US media reports, and have requested a police cruiser for Friday evening — when the moon will be in the same phase as during the night of the July 2017 incident.

It was unclear exactly what the testing would entail or where it would be conducted.

Noor shot Damond once from the passenger seat of the police cruiser. His partner told investigators they had been startled by a loud sound moments before they saw a figure approach them.

The shooting provoked outrage in the United States and in Damond’s native Australia, and Noor was fired and charged with second-degree and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter.

The 40-year-old had moved to the US to marry her American fiance, Don Damond, whose name she had already legally adopted.

Her relatives and the Australian government demanded an explanation, while protests in Minneapolis led to the resignation of the city’s police chief.

Noor’s jury trial is scheduled to begin April 1.