The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Amir Locke during a no-knock raid in 2022 is the instructor responsible for leading the police department’s use-of-force training, the police department confirmed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said Sgt. Mark Hanneman, who’s been with MPD for nearly a decade, is an “outstanding” trainer committed to bringing positive change to MPD. But Locke’s family and other community members say nothing justifies placing the officer who shot and killed a 22-year-old Black man at the helm of use-of-force training.

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Hanneman was not criminally charged in the killing. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and then-Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman cited a state statute that gives officers wide discretion to use deadly force if there’s a threat of death or great bodily harm, given what the officer knew at the time.

Wells and Locke’s father are suing Hanneman and the city over their son’s death. The federal lawsuit alleges that their son’s constitutional rights were violated, that MPD failed to adequately train officers and that the department has a history of using excessive force and no-knock warrants against people of color.