One of three Kentucky police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor this year was fired Tuesday, authorities said.
In a two-page letter to Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison, chief Robert J. Schroeder said that the detective violated department rules, procedures and deadly force standards when Taylor was killed.
When Hankison and two other plainclothes officers used a “no-knock” warrant to enter Taylor’s apartment March 13, he “wantonly and blindly” fired 10 rounds, Schroeder wrote.
“These rounds created a substantial danger of death and serious injury to Breonna Taylor and the three occupants of the apartment next to Ms. Taylor’s,” he said.
Schroeder added that Hankison fired those rounds without knowing if that deadly force was directed at someone who posed an immediate threat.
Louisville police officer Brett Hankison.Louisville police officer Brett Hankison.Louisville Metro Police Department
“Based upon my review, these are extreme violations of our policies,” he wrote. “I find your conduct a shock to the conscience.”
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