Officer Involved in Breonna Taylor Killing Sues Her Boyfriend Kenneth Walker for 'Emotional Distress'

One of the officers who was involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor has filed a lawsuit against her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who fired back.

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One of the officers who was involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor has filed a lawsuit against her boyfriend Kenneth Walker for "battery, assault, and distress."

People reports that Louisville Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who alongside Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove fired 32 rounds into Taylor's apartment, claims that he experienced "severe trauma, mental anguish and emotional distress" on the night that Taylor was killed. "Walker's conduct in shooting Mattingly is outrageous, intolerable and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality," the lawsuit reads.

Walker, a licensed gun-owner, fired his gun at police on the night of March 13 after they forcibly made their way into the apartment with a battering ram. He has alleged that police did not make it known they were making their way into the apartment, and he believed they were burglars. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has alleged that Walker's bullet struck Mattingly, who then returned fire alongside the other officers. Of the 32 shots the three officers fired, six struck Taylor. 

Initially, Walker had been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting Mattingly in the thigh, but those charges have since been dropped. "Sgt. Mattingly was shot and nearly killed by Kenneth Walker. He’s entitled to, and should, use the legal process to seek a remedy for the injury that Walker has caused him," said Mattingly's attorney Kent Wicker. Walker's attorney Steve Romines, meanwhile, told CBS News that his client is "protected by law under KRS 503.085 and is immune from both criminal prosecution and civil liability as he was acting in self defense in his home." 

Romines continued, "Even the most basic understanding of Kentucky's 'Stand Your Ground' law and the 'Castle Doctrine' evidences this fact. One would think that breaking into the apartment, executing his girlfriend and framing him for a crime in an effort to cover up her murder would be enough for them. Yet this baseless attempt to further victimize and harass Kenny indicates otherwise." Walker has maintained that the Louisville officers didn't announce themselves before breaking through the door. He has said, in fact, that he is "a million percent sure."

The shooting took place after police executed a search warrant regarding a suspected drug dealer, who authorities believe had previously collected a package at Taylor's home. Despite the search warrant, the suspected dealer did not live at her apartment, and had just recently been arrested at a different location prior to the shooting. Only one of the three officers, Brett Hankison, has been charged in connection with the incident, although it was only three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

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