Amir Locke Killing: Police Still Searching For Homicide Suspect In Case That Led To Fatal Raid

UPDATE: A source from the St. Paul Police Department tells WCCO that they have arrested a homicide suspect from the case that ultimately led to the death of Amir Locke last week inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment. Read the update here. 

Previous story below: 

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Sources tell WCCO that St. Paul police are still looking for the person they believe was involved in the homicide investigation that led to the death of Amir Locke last week inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment.

Officer Mark Hanneman shot Locke last Wednesday morning as a SWAT team conducted a search warrant connected to a murder in St. Paul. Body-camera footage showed the 22-year-old was sleeping on a couch when the team entered the living room. As he awoke, Locke grabbed his handgun nearby and is soon shot three times by Hanneman.

Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said Locke was not named in the original search warrant.

Locke's young life is over, but the grief and questions have only just begun. Nekima Levy Armstrong and Moms Demand Action filled city hall with passion Monday. The group denounced the use of no-knock warrants -- the kind MPD used to quickly enter the apartment Locke was sleeping in. The use of the warrant, which is only permitted if a judge approves it, has even law experts perplexed, including Rachel Moran of the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

"My question is what was in the warrant? I want to know what the Minneapolis police put in that warrant application that a judge reviewed for their explanation for why they had to use a no-knock warrant," Moran said.

The warrant served that day is sealed. What has been released is some background on the apartment Locke was in. We know a man who lives there now, Marlon Speed, has a criminal record. That includes making threats to an officer's family, and attempting to headbutt an officer during a traffic stop.

We also know there have been a list of calls to that apartment in since July including:

• Threats
• Disturbance
• Narcotic activity
• Domestic abuse

St. Paul police will not name who they are searching for in connection to their homicide case, but say they have not made any arrests.

SPPD does not use no-knock warrants, but they said since they were serving a warrant in Minneapolis, they went with MPD's preference to have no-knock warrant in this case. Typically, a judge has to unseal a warrant. We have learned SPPD wants it unsealed as soon as possible.

Experts say Minneapolis never banned no-knock warrants, despite claims from Mayor Jacob Frey and his campaign claiming he did. The no-knock warrant policy for MPD was updated in November to state that police must announce their presence once they enter. But Moran told the Minneapolis City Council Monday that the rule still allowed police to enter without knocking, so it wasn't a ban.

Frey acknowledged Monday that previous claims were misleading.

"Language became more casual, including my own, which did not reflect the necessary precision or nuance," Frey said. "And I own that."

On Friday, Frey temporarily suspended requesting and executing those no-knock warrants with an exception for "imminent threat of harm." Still, that isn't a ban. Frey is now bringing in national experts who shaped policy in Louisville after the police shooting of Breonna Taylor to review Minneapolis' policies.