On Friday, Mayor Greg Fischer announced the long-overdue termination of one of three officers who fired several shots inside Breonna Taylor’s apartment, killing her.
The termination of Officer Brett Hankison comes three months after Taylor’s March 13th murder, when officers, executing a no-knock warrant, barged into her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, and fired multiple shots. Taylor was struck eight times as she lay sleeping in her home.
“Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I would very much like to see changed, both the chief and I are precluded for talking about what brought us to this moment or even the timing of this decision,” Fischer said in his announcement, citing a state law and police union’s agreement that protects officers from suspension without pay in most cases.
According to Courier-Journal, Hankison is accused of “blindly” firing 10 rounds into Taylor’s apartment.
“I find your conduct a shock to the conscience,” the Department’s interim chief, Robert Schroeder, wrote in a letter to Hankison. “I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion.”
“The result of your action seriously impedes the Department’s goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department,” he continued. “Your conduct demands your termination.”
Hankison is one of three officers responsible for Taylor’s death. The other two have been identified as Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove.
