Brett Hankison, the only officer ever charged in connection with the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor, was fired by Louisville police for shooting blindly
Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison is questioned by his defense attorney Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. Hankison was found not guilty by a jury Friday for recklessly shooting through Breonna Taylor's apartment into the home of her neighbors during a botched police raid that killed Taylor.
Hankison had been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through sliding-glass side doors and a window of Taylor’s apartment during the raid that left the 26-year-old Black woman dead. Hankison’s attorneys never contested the ballistics evidence, but said he fired 10 bullets because he thought his fellow officers were “being executed.”
“He was never in the doorway,” Assistant Kentucky Attorney General Barbara Maines Whaley told the jury. Referring to Taylor she added, “His wanton conduct could have multiplied her death by three, easily.” The former narcotics detective admitted to firing through Taylor’s patio doors and bedroom window, but said he did so to save his fellow officers. Asked if he did anything wrong that night, he said “absolutely not.” Hankison was fired by Louisville Police for shooting blindly during the raid.
A 20-year veteran K-9 officer assigned to handle a drug-sniffing dog during the raid, Hankison said he was positioned behind an officer with a battering ram, and could see the shadowy silhouette of a person “in a shooting stance” with what looked like an AR-15 rifle as Taylor’s door swung open. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who had been settling down for bed when officers broke through her door, was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
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