Two cops shot after jury refuses to charge officers who shot Breonna Taylor dead
Two police officers have been shot as protests erupted across the US over the grand jury’s decision not to charge the officers who shot black paramedic Breonna Taylor dead in her home.
Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said the officers did not have life-threatening injuries, and a suspect is in custody.
Ms Taylor, 26, was shot multiple times as three officers stormed her home using a no-knock warrant on a drugs investigation.
The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside.
Myles Cosgrove – the cop who fired the fatal shot – and his fellow officer Jonathan Mattingly were not charged.
The third officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with ‘wanton endangerment’ for firing into a neighbour’s apartment in the Kentucky city.
The news that no officer would directly be charged over Taylor’s death reignited protests in Louisville, with thousands also taking to the streets in cities like New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas.
Armed officers in downtown Louisville fired flash bangs and formed a line at Jefferson Square as protesters chanted Taylor’s name and demanded justice.
‘It’s a volcano built up and now it’s exploded,’ one protester said, sitting beside a memorial to Taylor made of flowers and tiny grave markers representing black people killed by police.
The use of no-knock warrants has since been banned by Louisville’s Metro Council.
Before charges were brought, Mr Hankison was fired from the city’s police department on June 23.
A termination letter sent to him by interim police chief said the white officer had violated procedures by showing ‘extreme indifference to the value of human life’, when he ‘wantonly and blindly’ shot 10 rounds of gunfire into Ms Taylor’s apartment in March.
Ms Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire when police burst in, hitting Mr Mattingly.
Mr Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but prosecutors later dropped the charge.
He told police he heard knocking but did not know who was coming into the home and fired in self-defence.
On September 15, the city settled a lawsuit against the three officers brought by Ms Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, agreeing to pay her $12 million and enforce police reforms.
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