UPDATED 6/24 7:40 a.m.: The Louisville Metro Police Department has now released a public joint statement with Mayor Greg Fischer noting that Brett Hankison has been fired. Below, read the letter sent to Hankison by the department.
See original story below.
Louisville Metro Police is firing Brett Hankison, one of the cops involved in the widely criticized killing of Breonna Taylor during the serving of a no-knock warrant.
On Friday, Mayor Greg Fischer—perUSA Today—announced the impending firing. In a letter to the disgraced officer, the department's interim chief Robert Schroeder noted that Hankison had shot rounds "blindly" into the apartment.
"I find your conduct a shock to the conscience," Schroeder wrote. "I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion." Also in the letter, Schroeder said the result of the cop's actions—which he explained have impeded the department's claimed goal of providing "professional" law enforcement services—is termination.
In a public statement, Mayor Fischer added the following comments:
Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I very much would like to see changed, both the Chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment, or even the timing of this decision.
Hankison has also been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, with a department rep previously confirming that the allegations were being investigated.
Meanwhile, the other two cops—Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly—have been put on administrative reassignment.
In a statement to the Courier Journal on Hankison's firing, Sam Aguiiar—an attorney for the Taylor family—said "it's about damn time" actions started to be taken.
Breonna Taylor was killed by police on March 13 when officers executed a no-knock warrant at her apartment. Taylor, a 26-year-old medical technician, was shot eight times by the officers.
Calls continue for Taylor's killers to face adequate charges. Earlier this month, Beyoncé penned an open letter to the Kentucky Attorney General urging the office to use its "power and responsibility" to make sure the case doesn't fall into the typical pattern of inaction.
