A revelation has been discovered in the police killing of Breonna Taylor on Sunday (Sept. 27). According to The Courier Journal, the Kentucky State Police ballistics report contradicts state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s claim that Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot a Louisville police officer.
On Wednesday (Sept. 23), Cameron told reporters the investigation into Taylor’s death ruled out the “friendly fire” that went through Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly’s thigh, the catalyst to one of the cops firing the shot that killed 26-year-old Taylor in March.
The ballistic report reveals that Walker’s gun, “due to limited markings of comparative value” was neither “identified nor eliminated,” as the 9-mm bullet that actually hit Mattingly.
Cameron also stated that all three officers carried .40 caliber handguns and only Walker had a 9-mm, however, the report further revealed that Hankison had also been issued a 9-mm handgun.
Hankison was fired shortly after the shooting and was indicted last week on three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting his gun into her apartment and putting her neighbors in danger.
The other two officers involved in the botched raid, Mattingly and Miles Cosgrove, were not charged.
FBI ballistics identify Cosgrove as the one who fired the shot that killed Taylor, but the state ballistics test could not determine if it was him or Mattingly.
The Courier Journal recently submitted 13 questions to Cameron, which he has declined to answer, to explain the discrepancy. Among the questions posed are: “Why wasn’t Brett Hankison charged with endangering Breonna Taylor?” and “Was shooting Breonna Taylor self-defense?”
On Sept. 15, the Louisville Metro Police Department announced that they had come to a settlement agreement to pay out $12 million to Taylor’s family and also promised to commit to police reform in the prevention of future killings by cops.
Since the ruling, Taylor’s family has called on Cameron to release the grand jury transcript.