Minneapolis Officer Will Not Be Charged Over Fatal Shooting of Armed Man During Warrant Operation

"After a thorough review of all available evidence ... there is insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges in this case," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday.

The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an armed 22-year-old Amir Locke during a Feb. 2 SWAT raid on a downtown apartment in early February will not be charged with a crime, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday.

Locke was not the subject of the warrant the SWAT team was serving, WCCO reports.

"After a thorough review of all available evidence ... there is insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges in this case," a statement from Freeman and Ellison read.

A video released shortly after the shooting showed several SWAT officers rushing into the apartment at about 7 a.m. while shouting "Search warrant!" in connection with a homicide investigation in St. Paul that did not involve Locke, the Star-Tribune reports.

Officer Mark Hanneman then shot Locke, who was staying with a cousin, within seconds as he stirred beneath a blanket on a couch with a gun visible in his hand.

The day after the shooting, Minneapolis PD released video of the incident. In a still image broadcast on WCCO and provide by the Minneapolis PD, a semi-automatic pistol is clearly in Locke's hand.

"This constitutes a specifically articulable threat," Freeman and Ellison noted. "Officer Hanneman perceived that Mr. Locke's movements and production of a firearm presented a threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur, and to which the officers had to respond without delay."

Locke's cousin, 17-year-old Mekhi Speed, and another teenager have been charged with the St. Paul killing in January that prompted the raid that ended with Locke being shot.

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