Breonna Taylor shooting: Fired Louisville officer indicted on criminal charges but not her death
One of three officers involved in the Louisville, Ky., drug operation that led to the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in March 2020 was indicted on criminal charges; Jeff Paul reports.
Two Louisville, Ky., police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor remain on administrative leave, officials said Thursday, hours after a grand jury declined to indict the pair in connection to the fatal shooting and two other officers were shot amid protests over the news.
Officer Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly both remain on leave, Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder said during a virtual news briefing. He did not say when they would report back to work. A federal investigation into Taylor’s March 13 death during the botched drug raid in her apartment is ongoing.
The move by a Jefferson County grand jury not to indict both officers in connection with the operation unleashed a fresh wave of protests across the country Wednesday. The jury opted to indict former Louisville officer Brett Hankison on three felony counts of wanton endangerment for alleged “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
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However, he was not charged in connection to Taylor’s death, but for bullets fired that went into an adjacent apartment unit. He was fired from the police force in June.
Taylor, 26, died after officers initiated a no-knock warrant on her apartment during a drug investigation. They fired 20 rounds into the home, striking Taylor eight times. Authorities said they opened fire after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire.
Walker claims he shot at the officers in self-defense after they failed to announce they were law enforcement. Mattingly was struck in the leg and attempted murder charges against Walker were eventually dropped.
The grand jury’s decision further inflamed tensions between demonstrators and police Wednesday as hundreds turned out in Louisville to protest the decision, resulting in 127 arrests, officials said. Amid the unrest, two officers — Maj. Aubrey Gregory and Officer Robinson Desroches — were shot.
“Last night’s situation could have been so much worse for our officers and for the people who were protesting when the gunfire rang out,” Schroeder said.
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Gregory was treated and released from University Hospital with a leg wound after being shot beneath his hip. Desroches underwent surgery after being hit in the abdomen, Schroeder said.
The suspected shooter, Larynzo Johnson, 26, was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree and 14 counts of wanton endangerment in connection with the shooting of police officers
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