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POLICE SHOOTING-MINNEAPOLIS

Parents: Amir Locke ‘executed’; mayor halts no-knock entries

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis mayor has imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants after Amir Locke was killed as a SWAT team carried out a search warrant in a downtown apartment. Mayor Jacob Frey says the moratorium is effective immediately and will ban both requests for and the execution of warrants in which police do not announce themselves. Locke’s parents and their attorneys say the 22-year-old Black man was “executed” by a Minneapolis SWAT team that woke him from a deep sleep on Wednesday morning, and that he reached in confusion for a legal firearm to protect himself. Police body camera footage shows the officers entering a downtown apartment and shooting the 22-year-old man, who was wrapped in a comforter on a sofa and had a gun in his hand.

POLICE SHOOTING-MINNEAPOLIS-EXPLAINER-NO-KNOCK WARRANTS

EXPLAINER: Amir Locke case shines light on no-knock warrants

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The death of a Black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police SWAT team is shining new light on how police carry out no-knock warrants. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium Friday on both requests for and executions of no-knock warrants following the death of Amir Locke. While that’s in place, the mayor and police brass will work with experts who helped shape Breonna’s Law, the ban that was imposed in Louisville in 2020 following the botched no-knock raid in Louisville, Kentucky, in which Breonna Taylor was killed. Some states have banned no-knock warrants altogether, while Minnesota, some other states, and federal law enforcement agencies have adopted restrictions on their use.

POLICE SHOOTING-MINNEAPOLIS-MISTRUST

Amir Locke shooting rekindles mistrust of Minneapolis police

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The killing of a Black man by Minneapolis police left his family and activists angry and questioning the credibility of a department widely criticized for its initial portrayal of George Floyd’s death. Amir Locke was shot just before 7 a.m. Wednesday after officers quietly entered a downtown apartment with a key, then loudly announced their presence, kicked a sofa where Locke had been under a comforter, then shot him when he showed a gun. Activists were angered that an early police statement called Locke a “suspect.” They questioned the same statement for saying the gun was “pointed in the direction of officers” when police body camera video was less than clear. They also denounced police for releasing photos of a gun and bullets, calling that a character assassination.

MINNESOTA-SCHOOL SHOOTING

2 charged in fatal shooting at suburban Minneapolis school

RICHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — Two men have been charged in a shooting out suburban Minneapolis school that left one student dead and another critically injured. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Friday 19-year-old Alfredo Rosario Solis and 18-year-old Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, both of Minneapolis, each face one count of intentional second-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Jahmari Rice, who was found outside the South Education Center in Richfield Tuesday. A 17-year-old student was found wounded in the school’s main entrance. Solis and Valdez-Alvarez, both students at South, are also charged with two counts of attempted intentional second-degree murder. Solis appeared in court Friday without an attorney and a judge told him to find legal representation. Valdez-Alvarez has yet to appear.

PUBLIC SAFETY-LEGISLATURE

Minnesota lawmakers put early focus on public safety bills

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers on both sides of the aisle started the first week back at the Capitol highlighting different ways to retain and recruit more police officers. House Democrats’ public safety package includes $44 million to fund the hiring of beat cops and bolster investigations, along with $40 million in grants for violence prevention by community groups. Senate Republicans rolled out their own $65 million public safety package on Thursday. It includes bonuses and scholarships aimed at retaining and recruiting police officers. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler says House Democrats will announce a proposal focused on police retention and recruitment in the coming days.

AIRCRAFT RETURN-VEGAS

Aircraft to Minneapolis returns to Vegas for ‘hard landing’

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say no one was injured when an aircraft bound from Las Vegas to Minneapolis returned early Friday for a “hard landing” with a landing gear malfunction at Harry Reid International Airport. Airline, airport and FAA officials said the right main landing gear of Sun Country Airlines flight 110 collapsed when the Boeing 737 landed about 1:20 a.m. Fifty passengers and six crew members deplaned by stairs and returned by bus to the airport terminal. An airport spokeswoman says the aircraft remained on a runway throughout the morning while crews removed fuel to allow it to be towed to a parking area. Other airport operations weren’t affected.

DRUG RAID

Charges pending for 2 accused in large drug operation

MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say charges are pending for two men who were arrested after nearly 400 pounds of marijuana and hundreds of THC vaping cartridges were seized at a Minnetonka home. Lt. Derek Schuldt, commander of the Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force, says he suspects other people were involved in the drug operation, so the investigation is ongoing. Authorities said they seized 700 vaping cartridges, along with 9 pounds of THC wax, more than 3 pounds of psychedelic mushrooms, 6 ounces of cocaine, 300 prescription pills and $26,000. The Southwest Hennepin Drug Task Force assisted in the raid.

AP-US-GREAT-LAKES-WINTER-WATER

Scientists race to gather winter data on warming Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Winter is changing across the Great Lakes region, and scientists want to know what that will mean. Teams from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies will venture onto the frozen surfaces of all five lakes this month. They’ll take water samples from beneath the ice and measure characteristics such as light and nutrient levels. Researchers acknowledge most of their work on the lakes happens during warmer seasons and they don’t know much about what goes on in winter. They say it’s important to learn more now, as global warming brings milder temperatures and may eventually make ice cover a rarity.