New aftermath footage of police raid that killed Breonna Taylor shows Louisville officers violating investigation policies

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Body camera footage obtained and analyzed by VICE News shows violations of the Louisville Metro Police Department policy in the aftermath of the police raid that killed Breonna Taylor. 

The footage shows four of the officers who were present during the raid walking around the crime scene without an escort. The department’s standard operating procedures state that officers who are involved in use of force actions that «result in death or serious physical injury» should be paired with an escort officer during the entire initial investigation. Involved officers should also be separated from non-essential individuals. 

Files obtained by VICE News also show that one involved officer interviewed some of Taylor’s neighbors, assisting in the investigation.

One SWAT officer on the scene calls out former LMPD detective Brett Hankison for entering the crime scene before the arrival of the department’s Public Integrity Unit, which investigates officer-involved shootings,  according to the video. 

«I’d back out until they get PIU in here,» SWAT officer Sergeant Brandon Hogan says to Hankison in footage released by VICE News.

Hankison, who fired ten shots that night according to the department, has been charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for three shots that were fired into a neighboring apartment.

 

LMPD did not respond to an Insider request for comment.

VICE News also obtained records of investigative interviews with the involved officers. Detective Mike Campbell, who was present for the raid but didn’t fire his weapon according to LMPD, told investigators that he actually interviewed Taylor’s neighbors after the shooting. Footage shows him descending stairs leading from the apartment above Taylor’s.

A third officer, Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired 16 rounds according to the LMPD, can be seen carrying his rifle in the footage.

The investigative files reviewed by VICE News also show that multiple officers who responded to the shooting noted that officers should have been escorted by another officer and removed from the scene during the investigation. 

Breonna Taylor, 26, was killed after being shot eight times by police during a botched drug raid on March 13 of this year. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at officers after they rammed down the apartment door, prompting officers to return fire. Taylor was pronounced dead on the scene.

Walker’s defense attorney argued that police officers didn’t announce themselves during the raid. Eleven of twelve neighbors who were interviewed didn’t hear officers announce themselves, while the one neighbor who testified that he did originally testified that he didn’t hear the announcement, according to VICE News.

The charges against Hankison are for firing shots into a neighboring apartment during the botched drug raid that led to Taylor’s death. None of the charges are related to police officers killing her.

On Wednesday, a Louisville grand jury has charged Hankison in the shooting of Taylor, it declined to charge the other two officers involved, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Cosgrove. No charges were directly tied to Taylor’s death and the decision sparked protests surged across the country.

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Source: insider.com