Search warrants made public Thursday revealed Minneapolis police officers were investigating a timeline of car thefts, armed robberies and ultimately a homicide when they arrived at a Minnesota apartment where 22-year-old Amir Locke was shot and killed earlier this month.
Here’s what was revealed in the documents about how police wound up at the Bolero Flats apartments on Feb. 2 and what they expected to find.
What police were looking for
On Jan. 10, St. Paul, Minnesota, police began investigating the shooting death of 38-year-old Otis Rodney Elder, who had been found lying on the ground next to a car that had blood, a pill and cash in the front seat.
According to the warrant, one witness told police he was on the phone with Elder when he was shot and believed the man was conducting a drug deal with one person when two others tried to get in his back seat. A struggle ensued and the call went dead, the witness reportedly told police.
Twenty-one days later, a Hennepin County judge signed a search warrant seeking the following items believed to be connected with Elder’s death:
- Blood and other DNA evidence
- Firearms
- Marijuana
- Cash
- Mercedes key fobs
- Clothing linked to four separate people
What led police to the apartment where Locke was killed?
Officers began tracking a Mercedes that was seen on surveillance video fleeing the scene of Elder’s shooting.
The car had been reported stolen from a test drive late last year and was suspected to have been used in a December armed robbery, court records show. Three days before Elder’s death, police learned the Mercedes was also believed to be involved with the theft of a Maserati. Police later received a tip about an Instagram video that showed the stolen Maserati and officials were able to recover it.
On Jan. 21, police found the Mercedes parked on a parking ramp and three sets of fingerprints were found on the vehicle, including those of Locke’s 17-year-old cousin, Mekhi Camden Speed.
By studying the scene in the background of other Instagram posts, surveillance video, and using information from apartment staff, police concluded that items related to the homicide were likely located at the Bolero Flats apartments in Minnesota, where Locke died.
What happened when the warrant was served?
Locke was asleep on a couch when a SWAT team served a no-knock warrant and stormed a Bolero Flats apartment on Feb. 2. Police body camera video shows Locke, still wrapped in a blanket, holding what appears to be a gun just before Minneapolis Police Officer Mark Hanneman fired his weapon and struck Locke.
Locke’s family said he was staying at the address, but officials have confirmed his name wasn’t on the warrants that police were serving.
Minneapolis Police said Locke was shot after he pointed his gun in the direction of officers, but Locke’s family has questioned that.
What’s next?
On Monday, police arrested Locke’s cousin, Speed in southeastern Minnesota on two counts of second-degree murder in connection with Elder’s death. When authorities were making the arrest, they wrote in charging documents that Speed had a loaded gun in his jacket and tried to run away but was caught. Police say he has not cooperated with investigators.
At the time of Elder’s killing, Speed was on supervised probation after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for shooting a man in the thigh in Brooklyn Park in September 2020, according to court records.
Prosecutors have filed a motion to have Speed tried as an adult. Under Minnesota law, it’s presumed a child will face trial as an adult if the accused is 16 or older and the alleged crime would result in a prison sentence or was a felony involving a firearm.
