Det. Brett Hankison was informed in a letter signed by the police chief that his employment in the department “ends”, with immediate effect.
“I find his conduct a shock to the conscience,” wrote Police Chief Robert Schroeder in the letter. “I am alarmed and stunned because you used deadly force in this way.”
CNN contacted Hankison and his lawyer for comment, but received no response.
Protests against police brutality that erupted after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month in Louisville have largely focused on Taylor’s death.
Hankison violated standard operating procedure when his “actions showed extreme disregard for the value of human life” when he “blindly shot ten (10) shots” at Taylor’s apartment, Schroeder wrote in the letter.
Some of the rounds fired by Hankison entered an apartment next door, “endangering all three lives in that department,” Schroeder wrote.
“The result of their action seriously hampers the Department’s goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible,” he wrote. “I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Their conduct requires their termination.”
Lonita Baker, an attorney for Taylor’s family, said Friday that the family was “excited to receive this news and are encouraged by it.”
“However, this is only one step,” added Baker. “We are waiting for the other officers to be held accountable and for additional charges to be filed, but this is a step in the right direction.”
Baker said Friday that Breonna’s mother “enjoyed receiving this news.”
Both letters said Hankison was disciplined in January 2019 for reckless conduct that injured an “innocent person,” without giving details.
Officers were carrying out a search warrant in a narcotics investigation when they entered Taylor’s apartment just before 1 a.m. on March 13, according to the police department.
The no-touch order issued by police included Taylor’s house because, according to a police affidavit for a search warrant, which was obtained by CNN, authorities suspected that a man involved in a drug trafficking network was receiving packages drug at home.
On May 21, the FBI’s Louisville office announced that it would open an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Also in late May, the Louisville Metro Police Department said it would require all sworn officers to use body cameras.
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