Black man fatally shot by Minneapolis police planned to move to Dallas for music career

The 22-year-old Black man who was killed by police during a search warrant operation in Minneapolis early last Wednesday had planned to move to Dallas and start a music career, according to his family.

Amir Locke was fatally shot when members of the Minneapolis SWAT team stormed into Bolero Flats Apartment Homes before 7 a.m. Wednesday while executing a “no-knock” search warrant.

Locke was not named in the warrant, according to his family’s attorneys, and the warrant was being executed on behalf of St. Paul police, who were searching for a homicide suspect.

Locke had a gun in his hand when he was killed, according to bodycam footage. Locke’s family said he had a license and concealed carry permit for the weapon, which they said he had for protection, according to The Associated Press.

The bodycam footage shows officers entering the apartment without knocking and an officer kicking the couch where Locke’s family said he was sleeping. In the video, he is seen wrapped in a blanket with a gun in his hand before an officer fires his weapon.

Locke is shot less than 10 seconds after officers entered the room.

Minneapolis police said in a news release that officers and paramedics performed emergency aid on Locke, who later died at a hospital. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants Friday evening.

Locke’s parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells, said in a news conference Friday that their son had been “executed” and that his “dreams have been destroyed.”

They also said they believe Locke, who was a deep sleeper, was startled when the officer kicked the couch and didn’t know who was inside when he reached for his gun.

“My son Amir was a law-abiding citizen who did not have a criminal history,” Andre Locke said. “My son Amir was loved by many of us, by our family and many people, everyone that he came in touch with. My son Amir did what was right. He did all the things that he was supposed to do.”

Wells said that her son planned to start a music business and move to Dallas to be closer to her. He hoped to build a career as a hip-hop artist, she said at the news conference.

“As his mother, I will make sure that as long as I’m on this side of this world, I’m going to fight every day, throughout the day, 365 days, to make sure that Amir Rahkare Locke gets justice for being executed by the MPD,” Wells said.