On Friday (June 19), Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced the firing of Louisville Metro Police officer Brett Hankison — one of the three officers that fired fatal shots into Breonna Taylor’s apartment on March 13.
In Hankison’s termination letter, interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder accused the former cop of violating the departments’ rules and regulations by displaying an “extreme indifference” to Taylor’s life by “blindly” firing ten rounds of shots into her apartment.
“You also violated Standard Operating Procedure (9.1.12) Use Of Deadly Force when you used deadly force by blindly firing ten (10) rounds into Breonna Taylor’s apartment without supporting facts that your deadly force was directed at a person against whom posed an immediate threat of danger or serious injury to yourself or others,” the letter reads. “In fact the ten (10) rounds you fired were into a patio door and window which were covered with material that completely prevented you from verifying any person as an immediate threat or more important any innocent persons present.”
The letter also states that some of Hankison’s shots actually traveled into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment, endangering those residents’ lives. Schroeder also cites Hankison’s previous discipline for reckless conduct when he injured an innocent person last year.
“I find your conduct a shock to the conscience. I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion,” the letter concludes. “The result of your action seriously impedes the Department’s goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Your conduct demands your termination.”
Mayor Fischer held a press conference on Friday (June 19) but did not provide any further comment about Hankison’s firing.
“Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I would very much 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,” he said.
Besides being involved in Taylor’s shooting, Hankison has also been accused of sexual assault by at least two women in recent weeks. According to People, two women came forward on social media to allege that Hankison had offered them rides home from a bar before assaulting them.
Hankison’s termination marks the first firing in Taylor’s death, as the two other officers involved— Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove — have only been placed on administrative reassignment. No charges have been brought against any of the officers.
See Hankison’s full termination letter below.