Damond Family Hires Lawyer Who Worked on Castile Case

Minneapolis (AP) - The family of an Australian woman fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer has hired the attorney who represented the family of black motorist Philando Castile, who was also gunned down by an area officer.

Minneapolis attorney Bob Bennett told The Associated Press in an email Thursday that he is representing Justine Damond's family.

Bennett tells WCCO-TV that Damond's family is in disbelief at her death on Saturday night, after she dialed 911 to report a possible sexual assault. Bennett says Damond wasn't a threat to anyone, nor could she have reasonably been perceived as such.

Castile, a school cafeteria worker, was fatally shot by a police officer in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights during a traffic stop last July. The officer, Jeronimo Yanez, was acquitted in June of first-degree reckless homicide. Castile's family reached a nearly $3 million settlement in the case.