Amir Locke, 22, was killed just before dawn on February 2, 2022, inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment where he had been staying. A Minneapolis SWAT team entered to execute a search warrant connected to a St. Paul homicide probe. Body-worn camera footage described by investigators shows Locke asleep on a couch under a blanket; officers forced entry, he jolts awake holding a handgun, and within seconds an officer fires, striking him multiple times. Locke was taken to Hennepin Healthcare and pronounced dead shortly afterward.

The warrant was issued to seek evidence and people tied to the January 10, 2022, shooting death of Otis Elder in St. Paul; Locke was not the person named as the target. Authorities later arrested and prosecuted Locke’s cousin, Mekhi Camden Speed, in the St. Paul homicide; Speed pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2022. State and county prosecutors announced on April 6, 2022 that they would not file criminal charges against Officer Mark Hanneman in the Minneapolis shooting. Locke’s family filed civil claims against the city and the officer, and federal court rulings allowed key parts of that lawsuit to proceed.