On Wednesday (Oct. 7), the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) released internal investigative files of the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was killed by LMPD during a drug raid at her home.
The investigation was conducted by the department’s Public Integrity Unit. The police said reports, search warrants, interview transcripts, investigative letters, police personnel files and other information were included in the files. There is also bodycam footage from officers who were on the scene the night Taylor was killed.
According to AP News, the files included evidence of communication between Taylor and her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover — who was presumed to be involved with dealing drugs. It’s unclear when the communication between Glover and his ex ended. On the day Taylor was killed, Glover said that they had not “been around each other” in over two months.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said it was crucial to release the files as fast as possible after “necessary redactions” were completed. He said that a lot of the information in the files were also included in grand jury proceedings, which were released last week.
“I urge all to be sensitive that these files contain information and images that are traumatic and painful,” Fischer said in a release.
Photos and videos of Taylor were “blurred out of respect,” according to police. Personal conversations held between the officers on the scene were redacted from the report because they allegedly “had nothing to do with the scene or case.”
On Mar. 13, Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was shot and killed in her home as LMPD officers were conducting a “no-knock” search warrant as part of their narcotics investigation at her home.
Officers opened fired after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired his weapon after he believed their home was being invaded by intruders. Last week, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that former LMPD Detective Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for “blindly” firing into the apartments of Taylor’s neighbors. None of the officers have been charged for her death.