New search warrant issued for Officer Noor's phone, social media accounts

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Cell phone and social media records for Officer Mohamed Noor and his partner, Matthew Harrity, are being parsed as a part of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's investigation into the fatal shooting of Justine Damond in south Minneapolis, according to a new search warrant released Thursday.

The new document marks a key difference between the investigation into the Twin Cities' most recent police shooting and that of Philando Castile, for which the BCA only looked at St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez' call and text logs for the six minutes immediately prior to the shooting. 

Web browsing history on the department-issued iPhones of both Noor and Harrity are also fair game for investigators. It's the latest piece in an ongoing attempt to determine the exact series of events on July 15 after Noor, who fired the fatal shot from inside a police squad car, declined to interview with the BCA.

Various public figures, including Minneapolis' former and current police chiefs, as well as Mayor Betsy Hodges, have called for Noor to make a statement to the agency tasked with investigating officer-involved shootings, though the Fifth Amendment prevents anyone from compelling such testimony. 

"Officer Harrity has provided a statement to agents with the BCA about the details of the shooting of Justine Ruszczyk [Damond], but as of this time Officer Noor has not," the search warrant reads. "Your affiant believes that these cellular telephones may contain information not yet provided to your affiant or other agents of the BCA. This information may more clearly define the actions of Officers Noor and Harrity both prior to and post shooting."

Harrity, for his part, told investigators that he was startled by a "loud noise" directly before Noor fired, with a subsequent police report identifying the sound as Damond slapping their vehicle.

The search warrants were executed July 31, with four disks of information extracted from the two cell phones.