The partner of the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Justine Damond Saturday night told investigators that he heard a loud noise near their squad vehicle before the shooting, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving the squad vehicle at the time of the shooting, told BCA interviewers on Tuesday that he and his partner, officer Mohamed Noor, responded about 11:30 p.m. to a 911 report of an assault in the alley between Washburn and Xerxes avenues in south Minneapolis.

As they were driving down the alley in search of a suspect with their squad lights off, Harrity was “startled by a loud sound” near their vehicle, according to the BCA news release.

“Immediately afterward (Damond) approached the driver’s side window of the squad,” the news release said. “Harrity indicated that Officer Noor discharged his weapon, striking (Damond) through the open driver’s side window.”

Noor declined to be interviewed by BCA investigators, according to the news release. “Officer Noor’s attorney did not provide clarification on when, if ever, an interview would be possible,” the release said.

After the shooting, the officers exited their vehicle and provided first aid to Damond, who died at the scene of a single gunshot wound to her abdomen, according to the release. No weapons were recovered at the scene.

Harrity told investigators that he saw a white male aged 18 to 25 bicycling past the scene at the time of the shooting. The cyclist stopped and watched while the officers provided first aid to Damond. BCA agents would like to speak with the man, and anyone else who might have witnessed the shooting. The BCA asked any witnesses to call 651-793-7000.

Both officers’ body-worn cameras and their squad vehicle camera were off during the shooting.

The BCA said that, while it is investigating the shooting at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, it is not investigating whether the officers violated department policy with regard to these cameras.

That review will be conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department’s internal affairs unit, the news release said.

During a news conference at Minneapolis City Hall on Tuesday evening, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called body cameras “a powerful, but not infallible tool.”

Assistant Minneapolis Police Chief Mederia Arradondo told reporters his department was in the process of rolling out its body camera program and continues to update its policies on this technology. He said the program will not be fully implemented for another eight months.

Noor has been with the department for 21 months, while Harrity has been with the department for 12. Both officers are on standard administrative leave.

It was Damond, a 40-year-old yoga instructor from Australia, who had placed the 911 call that summoned Harrity and Noor to her neighborhood after hearing what she believed was an assault near her home on the 5000 Block of Washburn Avenue South.

PACE OF PUBLIC UPDATES FRUSTRATING

Hodges and Damond’s family have expressed frustration with the pace at which information about the shooting has been released.

During the news conference Tuesday, Hodges said she has urged the BCA to quickly share as much information with the public as possible without compromising their investigation.

She said she learned the importance of transparency in the aftermath of officer-involved-shootings during the investigation into the 2015 fatal shooting of Jamar Clark by a Minneapolis police officer.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gave an interview Wednesday to Australia’s “Today” show, shortly before the release of details from the BCA’s preliminary investigation. Turnbull joined the chorus demanding answers about what happened.

“How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance from police be shot like that? It is a shocking killing,” Turnbull said. Damond’s shooting has been front-page news in Australia.

Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal said a transcript of Damond’s 911 call was being prepared, and it will be released publicly after being shared with her family.

WILL OFFICER TALK?

Hodges said she hopes Noor will speak to BCA investigators, adding that “he has a story to tell that no one else can tell.”

“We cannot compel Officer Noor to make a statement,” Hodges said. “I wish we could. I wish that he would make a statement.”

David Klinger, a criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said police officers can’t be compelled to testify in an outside investigation.

“Police officers are citizens … they have the same Fifth Amendment right as anyone. They don’t have to give a statement,” Klinger said. “His lawyer might be saying, you’re not going to talk until I feel you’re rested and not under stress.”

3 COMPLAINTS AGAINST OFFICER

Records from the the Minneapolis Office of Police Conduct Review show Noor has had three complaints against him. Two are pending, and the third was dismissed without discipline. Under state law, details of open cases and cases that result in no discipline are not released.

Noor was also sued earlier this year after a May 25 incident in which he and other officers took a woman to the hospital for an apparent mental health crisis.

The lawsuit claims Noor and other officers violated the woman’s rights when they entered her home without permission and Noor grabbed her wrist and upper arm. The lawsuit, which is pending, said Noor relaxed his grip when the woman said she had a previous shoulder injury.

Several official reports, including Tuesday’s BCA statement, identify Damond as Justine Ruszczyk, but she had begun using her fiance’s last name professionally ahead of their planned August wedding.

Damond is one of at least 547 people fatally shot by police in the United States this year, according to a Washington Post database tracking such deaths. She is the 23rd woman listed in the newspaper’s database this year.