No charges filed in no-knock warrant killing of Amir Locke 

Prosecutors have declined to file charges against the police officer in Minneapolis who shot and killed Amir Locke, or any of the other officers involved, in the no-knock warrant service that led to the 22-year-old’s death in early February.

Locke was shot by the officer just a few seconds after entering the apartment after prosecutors noted Locke emerged from the couch with a handgun raised toward an officer. 

The officer and others on the Minneapolis SWAT team were in Locke’s home reportedly serving a warrant in a homicide investigation.

“After a thorough review of all available evidence…there is insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges in this case,” said the statement from the county attorney and state attorney general, which was released on Wednesday. 

When Locke was shot, he was in legal possession of the firearm and inside the apartment, as noted by prosecutors, but they said that information was not relevant to the investigation. Prosecutors added that Locke’s actions after officers went into the apartment “on a judicially authorized search warrant” constituted a “specifically articulable threat.”

A statement from Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman read, “These circumstances are such that an objectively reasonable officer in Officer (Mark) Hanneman’s position would have perceived an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur, and an objectively reasonable officer would not delay in using deadly force.”  

But an attorney for Locke’s family, Jeff Storms, noted that it was a “disappointing day for the family.” He added, ‘They just have a very strong belief that the incredible wrong that happened to Amir is going to save other people’s lives. They’re not going to let the lack of criminal charges slow them down one bit.”  

ARTICLE: ELIZABETH HERTZBERG 

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: POST-GAZETTE.COM

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