One of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black woman in Louisville is to be fired, the city’s mayor has said.
Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by officers who burst into her Louisville home using a no-knock warrant during a March 13 narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.
READ MORE: President Trump signs executive order on US police reform
Greg Fisher said interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated.
Mr Fischer said officials could not answer questions about the firing because of state law. He referred all questions to the Jefferson County attorney’s office.
Today, I'm announcing that @LMPD Chief Schroeder is initiating termination procedures against Officer Brett Hankison. https://t.co/jyEfQASKMD
— Mayor Greg Fischer (@louisvillemayor) June 19, 2020
A letter the chief sent to Mr Hankison said the officer violated standard operating procedures when he “wantonly and blindly fired 10 rounds into the apartment of Breonna Taylor”.
The letter said he fired the rounds “without supporting facts” that the deadly force was directed at a person posing an immediate threat.
“In fact, the 10 rounds you fired were into a patio door and window which were covered with material that completely prevented you from verifying any person as an immediate threat or more importantly any innocent persons present,” the letter said.
“I find your conduct a shock to the conscience,” Mr Schroeder wrote. “Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the department.”
Sam Aguiar, a lawyer for Ms Taylor’s family said the move was overdue.
(Frank Franklin II/AP)
“It’s about damn time. It should have happened a long time ago, but thankfully it’s at least happening now,” Mr Aguiar said.
“This is an officer that’s plagued our streets and made this city worse for over a dozen years. Let’s hope that this is a start to some good, strong criminal proceedings against Officer Hankison, because he definitely deserves to at least be charged.”
The warrant to search Ms Taylor’s home was in connection with a suspect who did not live there.
READ MORE: Donald Trump vows to 'dominate the streets' by calling in military to end protests
Police used a no-knock search warrant, which allows them to enter without announcing their presence. Louisville’s Metro Council recently voted to ban the use of no-knock warrants.
The release in late May of a 911 call by Ms Taylor’s boyfriend marked the beginning of days of protests in Louisville, fuelled by her death and that of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Beyonce recently joined the call for charges against the officers involved in Ms Taylor’s shooting.
The superstar said in a letter to Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron that the three Louisville police officers “must be held accountable for their actions”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here