BREONNA COP FIRED
Three months after no-knock Ky. killing
One of the Kentucky cops involved in the racially charged death of Breonna Taylor will be fired for “wantonly and “blindly’’ shooting 10 times into her home, according to Louisville’s police chief Friday.
“I find your conduct a shock to the conscience,’’ acting Chief Robert Schroeder said in a letter of termination to Officer Brett Hankison.
“Your actions displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life . . . I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion.’’
Hankison was one of three white cops who fired into the 26-year-old black EMT’s apartment during a botched raid in Louisville on March 13.
The plainclothes officers were conducting a “no-knock warrant” during a drug probe when they barged into the home.
Taylor’s boyfriend opened fire on the officers, saying he thought they were intruders, and the cops responded with a total of more than 25 bullets. Taylor was hit eight times and died. No drugs were found in the apartment.
The cops were not required to identify themselves as officers under the special warrant, although they claimed they did. Taylor’s boyfriend and other alleged witnesses said they did not.
Schroeder said in his letter that Hankison violated the department’s standard operating procedure, including involving the use of deadly force, when he blasted away “into a patio door and window which were covered with material that completely prevented [the cop] from verifying’’ there was “an immediate threat or more importantly any innocent person present.’’
It wasn’t clear why the chief was moving to fire Hankison now, more than three months after the shooting.
A lawyer for Taylor’s family told the Louisville Courier-Journal only, “It’s about damn time.’’
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said at a press conference on Friday, “Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I would very much like to see changed, both the chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment or even the timing of this decision.’’
The other two cops involved in the shooting are on administrative leave.
The state attorney general said Thursday that his office is still weighing whether to bring criminal charges against the officers — adding that he wouldn’t bow to pressure from celebrities including Beyoncé, who have demanded swifter action.
The developments came as the FBI on Friday said it is taking a “fresh look’’ at the case and agents descended on the scene with a search warrant.