EXCLUSIVE: Shot in the dark - how Justine Damond was killed by 'startled' cop when she was in the shadows at the bottom of virtually unlit alley

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The alley where Justine Damond was shot by police was poorly lit and dark at the time she was gunned down, DailyMail.com has established.

The bride-to-be, 40, was killed by a single gunshot fired by Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, in a killing which has left her family angry and confused.

They have reacted angrily to a claim from his partner's attorney that the two officers, both relative rookies, feared being ambushed when they answered the 911 call Damond herself had made.

Now DailyMail.com can reveal the dark circumstances Noor and his partner Michael Harrity found themselves in, after examining the alley at the same time as Saturday's shooting.

Exactly what the two officers could see will be at the heart of the investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) into the death, and is also likely to be key to the civil suit Damond's family has filed against the city.

The two officers will have to explain whether they were following department procedure by having their guns un-holstered and cocked.

Dark: This was the view Noor had from the passenger seat of his cruiser as it entered the top of the alley with its lights off to answer the 911 call

Proceeding: As the cruiser moved down the alley, Noor and Harrity were helped by only two streetlights. There is also a motion sensor-operated light further down

Sharp difference: The alley is initially uphill and has a brow roughly half-way down its length meaning that neither officer could see Damond up ahead if she was still in the alley

Dim: This is the view the cops would have had from the front of the cruiser. Noor had his handgun unholstered 

To the side: This was what Noor would have seen when he leaned across Harrity. Noor has told friends he was 'startled' and a figure came towards him in the dark

Left in the dark: The family of Justine Damond are demanding answers after the unarmed bride-to-be, 40, was shot by officer Mohamed Noor, as he answered a 911 call she had made

Aftermath: Cops rushed to the scene after Harrity and Noor reported shots fired. The two tried to save Damond with CPR but were unable to  

They were already in apparent breach of department rules by not having their bodycams switched on when they arrived. They should also have been switched on before the use of deadly force.

The investigation into the shooting of the bride-to-be will focus, primarily, on the crucial few seconds that the squad car encountered her before she was shot.

DailyMail.com has examined the alley where she met her death and what the conditions were likely to have been at the same time she was shot, 11.30pm at night.

One of the things officer Mohamed Noor has told friends is that it was dark and Justin, 40, rushed at the car and 'startled' him.

That prompted him to lean across his partner Matthew Harrity, who was in the driving sear, and shoot Damond through the driver's open window.

The officers also apparently heard a bang which could have been a firework or even the victim banging on the vehicle with her fist if the officers were unaware of her standing there.

 Call for answers: Don Damond, Justine's fiance, fought back tears as he said earlier this week that the cops have failed to provide any explanation

'Thrown under the bus': Proud Somali-American Mohamed Noor says his fellow officers are not backing him. A friend tells Daily Mail.com: '... in this situation he has realized he is probably alone with his legal team and Somali police colleagues.'

Justin made her emergency call at around 11.27pm saying she had heard a woman yelling 'help' although she wasn't sure whether it was a couple having  consensual sex or a woman being attacked.

Six minutes later she made another call and was re-assured police were on their way.

The killer policeman and Harrity then pulled their squad car up to the alley where Justine had reported hearing somebody being assaulted, but neither turned on their bodycams.

Their vehicle, with headlights and blue lights off, entered the alley from the north at 50th Street, in search of the potential rapist.

Our examination of the alley at 11.30pm showed there were only two street lamps in it.

Both send a glare towards anybody in a vehicle heading down the alley.

The drive took us past garages and back yards, some of which have motion sensor lights.

Almost in the middle of the alley is a brow which would have obscured, for a few seconds, Harrity and Noor's sight of the end of alley where Justin was apparently standing.

Towards the end of the alley is a garage which has a motion-sensor light that automatically turns on when a vehicle passes and stays on for around a minute.

The light, however, does not quite reach the spot where Damond died.

When our vehicle reached the end of the alley at its junction with 51st, the light was poor with the passenger side almost dark because of a tree towering over it.

The place where Damond was believed to have been standing was better lit.

Noor had an elevated position from the passenger seat as the nose of the car was sitting on a slope.

He is believed to have had his gun on his lap. There appears to be nothing in the operating procedures of the police department preventing from the officer unholstering his gun. 

Justin was shot in the abdomen and our test showed that only half of Justin's body from stomach up would have been visible to the officer.

She was wearing her pajamas when police arrived and she approached the driver's window. Their color has not been disclosed.

The bullet tore into her abdomen and despite efforts by the officers to perform CPR, she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.

The 40-year-old was originally from Sydney but had been living in the US for three years and was due to marry Minneapolis businessman Don Damond, 50, next month.

Her fiance, who was happy for Justine to use his last name before they were legally married, has described her death as a 'homicide' increasing pressure on officials to come to a speedy conclusion with their investigation and either charge officer Noor or exonerate him.

Noor has, thus far, refused to be interviewed by the investigating team and this is said to be based on legal advice as he is not required to co-operate.

Both officers involved in the shooting have been ordered on to paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure following similar incidents.

Despite the outcome of the investigation, both men face being punished and possibly losing their jobs.

They were in breach of their department's strict bodycam rules and were compelled to switch on body cameras and record their interactions when answering the 911 call.