The parents of a 22-year-old Minneapolis man say police “executed” him while he slept in a friend’s apartment.
Amir Locke was sleeping on a sofa with a gun in his hand when Minneapolis cops used a key to unlock the apartment door.
At 6:48 a.m. Wednesday, armed cops burst into the apartment yelling “Police! Search warrant! Hands up! Get on the ground!”
Their flashlights illuminated the scene as one of the cops kicked the sofa. Video footage shows Locke, still wrapped in a blanket, attempting to turn around with a firearm clearly visible in his hand.
One of the cops opened fire three times, killing Locke.
The MPD said in a statement Wednesday that Locke had pointed a loaded gun “in the direction of officers.”
The cops were already on high alert while investigating a homicide and they believed the gunman was hiding inside the apartment.
“No lawful gun owner could have survived this situation,” the family’s attorney Jeff Storms said at a Friday news conference. “No one could have lived through this.”
The family is also being represented by Ben Crump, who has acted as counsel for victims in high-profile cases.
Amir Locke’s father, Andre Locke, described his son as a legal gun owner and a “deep sleeper.”
“Amir was a deep sleeper, 22 years old, he was a deep sleeper, it takes a lot to wake him up,” Andre Locke said at a Friday press conference. “For them to kick the couch and startle him, those officers and that officer aggravated him, almost like they wanted him to reach for something, to take his life.”
Watch the police body cam video below.
