Louisville police officials have released a stark, nearly blank incident report on the March shooting death of EMT Breonna Taylor, who was gunned down in her own home by officers executing a search warrant.
What We Know:
- The document, which is fueling rage in a case that has already led to widespread protests across the U.S., misspells Taylor’s middle name, Shaquelle, and lists the case as a “death investigation” involving the Louisville Metro Police Department. It lists a handgun as the weapon used.
- Under injuries, however, the document lists “none.” Taylor, 26, was shot at least eight times the morning of March 13 when officers unloaded more than 20 rounds into her apartment, according to attorneys for her family.
- In the sport that questions whether forced entry was used, the box marked “no” is checked. But officers Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson used a battering ram to bust down the door of the apartment where Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping. The officers, members of the department’s Criminal Interdiction Division, were acting on a “no-knock” warrant.
- Walker, believing Taylor’s apartment was being broken into, used his legal handgun to fire a shot at the plainclothes officers, striking Mattingly in the leg. Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer and aggravated assault, but those charges were later dismissed.
- Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes, who applied for the no-knock warrant, was reassigned Wednesday. The three officers who carried out the warrant had already been reassigned. But despite the demands of protesters, no one has been charged with a crime.
- Under the reports “narrative” of events portion, only two words are listed: “PIU [Public Integrity Unit] investigation.” The rest of the report was not filled out.
- Taylor’s family and the public have been awaiting answers in her death for nearly three months. Richard Green, editor of the Louisville Courier Journal, expressed frustration at the lack of information in the report. The Courier Journal reported that police officials blamed the nearly blank report on errors in their reporting system when the file was created.
- On Wednesday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called the document “unacceptable.”
The FBI opened its own investigation into the death in May. Attorneys for Taylor’s family said at the time that they “look forward to further investigation, including by the FBI, into the chain of events that led to Breonna’s tragic and preventable death.”
