‘EXTREME VIOLATIONS’

Officer Involved in Breonna Taylor Shooting Fired for Use of Deadly Force

The Louisville chief of police said Brett Hankison “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

The Louisville Metro Police Department has fired Det. Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT in Louisville. Police entered Taylor’s home March 13 using a “no-knock” warrant and fatally shot her eight times while she was asleep. According to a letter posted by the LMPD, an internal investigation found that Hankison violated the department’s use of deadly force policy 10 times when he fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment. The chief of police, Robert Schroeder, called Hankison’s actions “extreme violations of our policies,” and “a shock to the conscience,” and said the former officer “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life.” Hankison has 10 days to appeal his firing. The LMPD similarly disciplined him for reckless conduct in January 2019.