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A former Hutchinson police officer working for the Minneapolis Police Department will not face charges following the Feb. 2 fatal shooting of Amir Locke.

Locke, 22, was staying in his cousins apartment in downtown Minneapolis when police entered early in the morning without knocking as part of a homicide investigation from St. Paul. During the incident, Locke was fatally shot by Mark Hanneman.

A video of the incident shows Locke was on the couch when officers approached.

Amir was not a suspect. Our investigation found no evidence that he had any role in the homicide investigation that brought police to his door on 6:48 a.m. on Feb. 2, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a prepared statement this past Wednesday. Amir was a victim. He never should have been called a suspect.

Body camera footage that was released in February showed police using a key to enter the downtown apartment. The video shows Locke wrapped in blankets on a couch when officers entered the apartment and yelled Police, search warrant! One officer is seen kicking the couch as other officers yell Hands! and Get on the ground! Locke begins to move and is seen holding a gun when Hanneman shoots him.

The role that (Hennepin) County Attorney (Michael) Freeman and I took on was to determine whether current law allows us to file criminal charges in Amirs death, Ellison said.

A U.S. Supreme Court precedent called Graham vs. Connor, which informed Minnesotas use-of-force law, was the lens through which the attorneys evaluated the evidence.

We have determined that under that precedent and the laws we have, we cannot file criminal charges, Ellison said. Current law only allows us to evaluate the case from the perspective of a reasonable officer. That language is from the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and relevant cases and statutes. We are not allowed to evaluate the case from the perspective of the victim.

In a written statement to investigators, Hanneman said he was convinced he would suffer great bodily harm or death if he did not use deadly force.

With all the available evidence, we would not be able to prove in court that the officers use of force was not authorized under the law beyond a reasonable doubt, Ellison said. It would be unethical for us to file charges in a case in which we know we will not prevail because the law does not support the charges.

Lockes mother, Karen Wells, said she was disgusted by the decision at a news conference this past week. She vowed to pressure Minneapolis city leaders.

The shooting of Locke, a black man, has led to protests in Minneapolis and calls for reviewing police use of no-knock warrants. According to reporting by the Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Police Department restricted use of no knock warrants following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. A new policy formally requires officers to knock and wait before entering a residence, but there are limited exceptions.

Hanneman, a Hutchinson High School graduate who worked as a full-time police officer at Hutchinson Police Services from March 21, 2012, to Sept. 12, 2015, and again as a part-time officer from July 25, 2017, to March 24, 2019, was part of a Minneapolis police SWAT team. According to a statement from Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman, Hanneman returned to active duty on Feb. 28 but is no longer on a SWAT team.

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Former Hutchinson officer will not be charged in shooting - Crow River Media