Louisville police officer fired over fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor
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[June 24, 2020]
By Bryan Woolston
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - One of three
officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman
killed in a hail of gunfire when drug investigators burst into her home
in Louisville, Kentucky, three months ago was dismissed from the police
department on Tuesday.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed on March
13 after the officers entered her apartment bearing a "no-knock" arrest
warrant.
In a termination notice issued after an administrative hearing,
Louisville police chief Robert Schroeder wrote that detective Brett
Hankison "displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life"
when he "wantonly and blindly fired" 10 rounds into Taylor's home.
Schroeder said the gunshots were fired through a patio door and window
covered with material obscuring Hankison's line of sight, preventing him
from knowing whether anyone was inside the apartment, let alone whether
they posed a threat. Some of the rounds he fired flew into the unit next
door, the chief wrote.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jun/24/images/ads/current/diversifiedservice_sdadaily_HG_2020_.png)
Two other officers involved in the raid remain on administrative
reassignment. No criminal charges have been filed against any of the
three.
The notice also said Hankison, who joined the department in 2003, was
disciplined in 2019 for reckless conduct that injured an innocent
person.
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![](../images/062420PIX/news_f9.jpg)
Personnel with the Federal Bureau of Investigation stage outside the
apartment of Breonna Taylor as the agency executes a search warrant
of the home in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. June 19, 2020.
REUTERS/Bryan Woolston
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
Taylor's slaying, which returned to prominence following the May 25
death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, has become a
rallying cry in nationwide protests against police brutality and
racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.
In the immediate aftermath of the Taylor killing, police said the
officers had knocked on the door before forcing entry and were shot
at by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. One officer was struck in
the leg, and all three returned fire, hitting Taylor at least eight
times, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Walker was charged with attempted murder and assault, but
prosecutors later dropped the charges, the Courier-Journal reported.
(Reporting by Bryan Woolston in Louisville, Ky.; Writing and
additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Shri
Navaratnam and Leslie Adler)
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