A Black man was killed by Minneapolis police officers carrying out a no-knock warrant, even though he wasn't a target for arrest
City of Minneapolis
- Black man Amir Locke, 22, was shot to death by Minneapolis Police officers on Wednesday.
- Officers were carrying out a no-knock warrant in connection to a homicide investigation.
- The interim police chief said that Locke was not named in the warrant.
A Black man was killed by Minneapolis Police officers Wednesday morning while they were serving a no-knock search warrant, and the interim police chief admitted that the victim was not the target of the warrant.
The video shows officers using a key to enter the apartment in the early hours of February 2, then yelling "Search warrant!" as they rush into the home.
As officers enter the living room, 22-year-old Amir Locke is seen rising off the couch, where he had been lying under a blanket. About 13 seconds into the video, three shots are fired at Locke, who falls to the ground.
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In a press release after the incident, Minneapolis PD officials said that the man on the couch had been holding a gun, which they recovered from the scene.
Locke was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital.
The officer who fired the fatal shots has been identified as Mark Hanneman. Locke was shot twice in the chest and once in the wrist, according to a fire department incident report.
MPD officials released the footage of the shooting on Thursday. Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said at a Thursday press conference that Locke was not named in the search warrant, which was connected to a St. Paul homicide investigation, according to WCCO. She said it "remains unclear if or how Mr. Locke is connected to St. Paul's investigation."
Minneapolis Police Department
No-knock search warrants are search warrants carried out so as to surprise the suspect, and therefore minimize the chance of an armed struggle with the suspect.
The use of these warrants has come under scrutiny in recent years, especially after the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky in March 2020, by officers serving a no-knock search warrant to arrest her boyfriend.
Multiple cities have banned no-knock warrants. Minneapolis restricted the use of no-knock warrants in 2020.
—Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) February 4, 2022
While officers are still allowed to carry out no-knock warrants in "high-risk" situations, they still have to identify themselves as police "prior to crossing the threshold" and "periodically" continue to identify themselves.
Insider reached out to Jeffrey Storms, an attorney representing Locke's family, for comment Friday morning, but did not immediately receive a response.
Locke's mother told the Star Tribune that she wants "justice" for her son.