Here’s What We Know About His Fatal Shooting By Minneapolis Police

Topline

The parents of Amir Locke, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police Wednesday in what appears to have been a no-knock raid, were “just flabbergasted” about how their son died, the family’s attorney Ben Crump said Friday, a day after it was revealed Locke was not named in the search warrant.

Key Facts

The 22-year-old Black man was sleeping on a couch wrapped in a white blanket when at least five SWAT officers wearing protective vests used a key to enter the dark apartment at about 6:48 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a video recorded by a police body camera. 

As they enter the apartment, officers yell, “Police, search warrant, get on the ground, get on the f***ing ground,” Reuters reports, and then an officer kicks the couch Locke is sleeping on, and the video shows him coming out of the blanket holding a gun in his right hand, followed by three gunshots.

Locke was not named in both the knock and no-knock warrants, police said.

Locke’s family said at a press conference Friday he did not have any criminal record and was the legal owner of a gun.

Amelia Huffman, the interim Minneapolis police chief, said Locke had aimed a loaded gun toward an officer who was out of the video frame, causing the officer to open fire, and that officers “loudly and repeatedly” shouted “‘police search warrant’” before entering the apartment—something that was not captured in the footage.

Locke was shot by Officer Mark Hanneman, who CNN reported has been placed on administrative leave.

What We Don’t Know

Locke’s connection, if any, to the homicide investigation that precipitated the police raid. Huffman said the homicide investigation was being handled by the St. Paul Police Department. The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to a Forbes request for comment.

Key Background

Locke’s death comes a year and a half after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. The death of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who was shot by Kentucky police in a botched no-knock warrant entry in 2020, sparked outrage across the country. Crump compared Locke’s death to Taylor’s in a statement Thursday, saying: “This is yet another example of why we need to put an end to these kinds of search warrants so that one day, Black Americans will be able to sleep safely in their beds at night.” Cities across the country moved to ban or limit no-knock raids following Taylor’s death.

Further Reading

Body camera video shows Minneapolis officers shooting Black man during no-knock warrant. Attorneys say he wasn’t the target (CNN)

Attorney: Family ‘flabbergasted’ by killing of Amir Locke (Associated Press)

Minneapolis police release body-cam footage in the deadly shooting of Amir Locke (Washington Post)