The Louisville Metro Police Department has fired two police officers over their roles in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed in her apartment by officers serving a search warrant as part of a drug investigation into her ex-boyfriend. They did not find any drugs or evidence of criminal activity in her apartment.
The officers used a battering ram to break down her door at around 1 a.m. on March 13. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot as the officers breached the apartment, thinking they were intruders. One of the officers was struck in the thigh, and they returned fire. Taylor was shot six times and died in the hallway.
Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired the shots that killed Taylor, was terminated for violating the department's procedures on the use of deadly force.
In a termination letter to Cosgrove, interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry cited the fact that he shot off 16 rounds in three separate directions and failed to "verify a threat or have a target acquisition."
Detective Joshua Jaynes, who secured the search warrant for Taylor's home, was also fired. Gentry accused Jaynes of lying twice when he swore out the warrant to Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw.
"Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the department," Gentry wrote. "Your conduct has severely damaged the image our department has established within our community."
Both officers have ten days to appeal their termination.
None of the officers involved in the raid at Taylor's apartment were criminally charged in her death. One officer, Brett Hankison, was charged by a grand jury with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for firing into a neighboring apartment. He was also fired by the department.
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