Case of Amir Locke's killing by Minneapolis police officer goes to prosecutor

State investigators forwarded their investigation to prosecutors in the fatal shooting nearly two months ago of Amir Locke, the 22-year-old man who was killed by Minneapolis police as they stormed a downtown apartment while carrying out a no-knock warrant.

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said Tuesday the case is now in the hands of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, with state Attorney General Keith Ellison taking the lead in assessing whether to charge officer Mark Hanneman with a crime.

The partnership is the same arrangement used when fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was charged and later convicted of killing George Floyd in May 2020 and again when fired Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter was charged and convicted of killing Daunte Wright in April 2021.

"The BCA has been providing information [about the Locke case] to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office since the beginning of the investigation," Oliveira said. "The last reports and information about our investigation were delivered in mid-March."

Oliveira said just because the case is in the hands of prosecutors, that doesn't end her agency's involvement.

"We will continue working with the county attorney to provide any additional information as needed," she said.

Lacey Severins, spokeswoman for the County Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the development other than to reiterate what the office said two days after Locke was killed, when the decision was made to partner with the Attorney General's Office.

"We will be working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to ensure a thorough and complete evaluation," the earlier statement read. "Thereafter, we will decide together, based on the law and evidence, whether criminal charges should be brought."

Minneapolis police body camera video released shortly after the shooting Feb. 2 showed several SWAT officers rushing into the apartment at about 7 a.m. while shouting "Search warrant!" Hanneman then shot Locke within seconds as he stirred beneath a blanket on a couch with a gun visible in his hand.

Hanneman has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting in the seventh-floor unit of the Bolero Flats Apartment Homes, at 1117 S. Marquette Av.

Hanneman joined the Minneapolis Police Department in July 2015 after five years as a police officer in his hometown of Hutchinson, Minn., according to public records and his personnel file released by Minneapolis officials.

He had various shifts downtown and in other precincts, and had been on a SWAT assignment for three days when he shot Locke. His SWAT assignment was scheduled to run until Feb. 26, but his paid leave cut that short.

Locke, who was staying with a cousin, was not the subject of the warrant. Mayor Jacob Frey has since proposed a policy change that would permanently ban the Police Department's use of no-knock warrants. Instead, officers must knock, announce and wait. The policy was expected to be written by early next month.

The warrant was in connection with a fatal shooting in St. Paul in January. Locke's cousin, 17-year-old Mekhi Speed, and another teenager have been charged in connection with the killing of Otis R. Elder, 38, as he sat in his vehicle.