(Louisville, Ky.) — The probe by two investigators into the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by police has found that the officers, who were responding to her house to serve a 2020 narcotics warrant, should not have fired their guns.  

This December 4 report conflicts with what senior officials from the Louisville Metro Police Department had ruled.

Sgt. Andrew Meyer says officers should have held their fire after one of them was shot by Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, during the March 13, 2020 incident.

Meyer wrote, “They took a total of thirty-two shots, when the provided circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot. This is how the wrong person was shot and killed.”

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg when serving the warrant, and the report finds former officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison violated department use-of-force policy by shooting someone who posed no threat to them.

Meyer says deadly force should have only been directed at Walker, who fired his weapon after the officers broke through the apartment door and entered to serve the warrant.

However, Walker took shelter in a back bedroom and the only way for officers to have made it to the room was to go down a dimly lit hallway.  Because Walker wasn’t a clear target, the report states that Taylor’s safety should have been considered before officers kept firing.

The report has been supported by Meyer’s lieutenant, Jeff Artman.

Taylor was shot six time, one of the bullets coming from Mattingly. An FBI ballistics report states one of Cosgrove’s bullets was what killed Taylor.

Mattingly, who is 48, announced plans to retire on June 1, reports the department.

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