A ballistics report by the Kentucky State Police does not corroborate state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s claim that a Louisville police officer was shot by Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, the night she was killed.
On Wednesday, Cameron told reporters that “friendly fire” from former Louisville officer Brett Hankinson as the person behind the gun that went through the thigh of LMPD SGT. Jonathan Mattingly had been ruled out during the investigation. The shot reportedly prompted the two cops and officer Myles Cosgrove to return fire, killing Taylor.
However, the report conducted by the department stated that because of “limited markings of comparative value,” the 9-mm bullet that struck Mattingly was neither “identified nor eliminated as having been fired” from her boyfriend’s gun.
Because Walker had a 9-mm, while the other three officers were carrying .40 caliber handguns, Hankison had been eliminated as the shooter, according to Cameron. But, later that evening on CNN, one of Walker’s attorneys, Steve Romines, revealed that he had received an LMPD record showing that Hankison has been given a 9-mm gun as well.
On March 13, Walker had admitted to firing a “single warning shot” from his handgun at Taylor’s apartment because he believed that intruders were attempting to break in. Instead, police had entered the apartment to reportedly serve a “no-knock” search warrant just before 1 a.m. as part of a narcotics investigation.
After several months of waiting for a trial to bring the three officers to justice, a decision by a Kentucky grand jury had been made. Cameron announced that Mattingly and Cosgrove were not charged with any crimes because they had the right to defend themselves. The third officer, Hankison, who was released from duty in June, was charged with three counts of wantonly endangering Taylor’s neighbors by releasing shots that went into their apartment. He was not charged with the death of Taylor.
Last week, Cameron stated that on the night of Taylor’s death, which resulted from being shot six times, Mattingly fired six shots, Cosgrove 16 shots, and Hankison 10. FBI ballistic examiners had concluded that Cosgrove had fired the shot that killed Taylor. The police department, however, was unable to determine whether he or Mattingly fired that struck her pulmonary artery, killing her within minutes.
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Before the ruling, the city of Louisville paid $12 million to Taylor’s family and agreed to enact several changes within the police department policies and procedures as part of the settlement of a wrongful death suit filed by her estate.
