The city of Minneapolis released police body camera video Thursday of the fatal shooting of Amir Locke, 22, during a SWAT team raid Wednesday at a unit in the Bolero Flats Apartment Homes in downtown Minneapolis in connection with a homicide investigation in St. Paul.
Minneapolis police said Locke pointed a handgun at officers before he was shot and killed, though the video is less conclusive. Locke's father said he had a permit to carry the handgun found in his possession, though no permit is required to possess a firearm in a private residence. Locke was not named in the warrant, authorities say, but he was described in a Minneapolis Police Department report released Wednesday as a "suspect." The report did not specify a crime in which he was a suspect.
Authorities identified Mark Hanneman as the officer who shot and killed Locke, who was on a couch in the apartment and appeared to have been woken up by the officers. The body camera footage released was not Hanneman's.
The 54-second video includes a slowed-down version of the footage and a 15-second clip of the incident in real time. The events in the video unfold very quickly.
Here's a second-by-second look at key moments in the video, compared with the MPD report and comments by Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman before and after the video's release.
WARNING: This article contains graphic content, but does not include video of the shooting.
What official sources said
According to the report, "On February 2, 2022 at approximately 6:48am, the Minneapolis Police SWAT team, in Minneapolis Police Department uniforms, marked external ballistic vests, and tactical gear executed a warrant for the Saint Paul Police Department Homicide unit on the 1100 block of Marquette Avenue South."
Huffman said in a Wednesday news conference that a key fob was used to enter the apartment.
What the video shows
The video begins with a timestamp of 06:47:56 as a group of officers is gathered outside the front door of the unit. An unidentified officer uses a key to unlock the door and opens it at 06:48:02.
City of Minneapolis
What official sources said
"They loudly and repeatedly announced 'police, search warrant,' before they crossed the threshold into the apartment, and ongoing as they made entry," Huffman said Wednesday.
The MPD report stated: "Officers gained entry to the target apartment on the seventh floor, loudly and repeatedly announced their presence, crossed the threshold of the apartment and advanced with continued loud announcements of their presence."
What the video shows
As the door swings open, the officers begin yelling "Police, search warrant!" repeatedly as they simultaneously enter the apartment with guns drawn and flashlights illuminating the scene. The first officer crosses the threshold at 06:48:03. Hanneman is the second officer through the door. At least four officers are seen entering the apartment, with more in the hallway. The body camera belongs to the fourth officer to enter.
City of Minneapolis
What official sources said
"Just over nine seconds after they had made entry into the apartment, the officers encountered a male who was armed with a handgun," Huffman said Wednesday. "He was holding that gun in his hand at the time that shots were fired."
Huffman reiterated this in a news conference following the release of the body camera video Thursday, saying "If you look at that still image, even though you don't see all of the officers, the involved officer was just outside the frame in the direction that that barrel is emerging from the blanket."
"That's the moment when the officer had to make a split-second decision to assess the circumstances and determine whether he felt like there was an articulable threat, that the threat was of imminent harm — great bodily harm or death — and that he needed to take action right then to protect himself and his partners," Huffman said.
According to the MPD report: "Approximately nine seconds into the entry, officers encountered a male who was armed with a handgun pointed in the direction of the officers. An officer fired his duty weapon and the adult male suspect was struck."
What the video shows
The officers quickly made their way into what appears to be the apartment's living room, where a couch is visible and a person, later identified as Locke, is seen under a blanket. At 06:48:08, the first officer through the door kicks the couch as someone yells, "Get onto the ground!" Locke begins to rise while still covered in the blanket as Hanneman maneuvers directly in front of him.
City of Minneapolis
At 06:48:10, Locke can be seen holding a handgun in his right hand as an officer yells "Show me your hands!" The barrel of Locke's gun is pointing toward the ground but oriented in Hanneman's general direction. In a still image from this sequence released by MPD, Locke's index finger is clearly visible along the barrel and not on the trigger.
Minneapolis Police Department
Hanneman, on the right side of the frame, fires three shots in rapid succession at 06:48:11, striking Locke, who falls to the floor. The video ends abruptly.
City of Minneapolis
What the video doesn't show
The view from this officer's body camera does not show Hanneman's perspective of Locke or Locke's gun. It also does not clearly show that Locke's gun was ever pointed at Hanneman or any other officer. Neither MPD nor the city have signaled an intention to release video captured by Hanneman's body camera.
The clip does not show the aftermath of the shooting or offer any insight into Hanneman's reaction or state of mind afterward. While the MPD report said that officers "immediately provided emergency aid and carried the suspect down to the lobby to meet paramedics," there is no indication how quickly that happened.
"It remains unclear if or how Mr. Locke is connected to St. Paul's investigation," Huffman said Thursday.