Her injuries are listed as “none,” despite the fact that she died from at least eight LMPD-administered gunshot wounds.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released on Wednesday an incident report from the night of March 13, when LMPD officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor, an African American emergency room technician, during a raid at her apartment. Looking for a suspect who was already in custody, three plainclothes officers broke down her door and unloaded more than 20 rounds into the residence.
Instead of a detailed explanation of the events of that night, the report is almost entirely devoid of information.
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The four-page report lists the time, date, case number, incident location, and the victim’s name. Missing are Taylor’s street number, apartment number, and date of birth. There is also no mention of the man who was inside the home with her, Kenneth Walker, who fired once and struck an officer.
Taylor’s injuries are listed as “none,” despite the fact that she died from at least eight LMPD-administered gunshot wounds. And the report checks “no” under “forced entry,” though officers used a battering ram to break down Taylor’s door after midnight.
The narrative section, which is supposed to spell out in detail the events that transpired that night, has only two words: “PIU Investigation.” (PIU is the police department’s Public Integrity Unit.)
“I read this report and have to ask the mayor, the police chief and the city’s lawyers: Are you kidding? This is what you consider being transparent to taxpayers and the public?” asked Richard A. Green, editor of The Courier Journal. “At a time when so many are rightfully demanding to know more details about that tragic March evening, I fail to understand this lack of transparency. The public deserves more.”
In a briefly worded statement, the police department blamed the incomplete report on a computer program error. Sgt. Jon Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, who executed the no-knock warrant at Taylor’s home, have been on administrative reassignment pending the investigation. Hankinson is also currently under investigation for at least two separate allegations of sexual assault, and the detective who requested the warrant, Joshua Jaynes, was reassigned.
“This document is proof that LMPD continues to make a mockery of transparency,” said Jon Fleischaker, counsel for The Courier Journal, which is suing the LMPD for the full release of the investigative file on Taylor’s death.
As national demand for greater police restraint and accountability grows, Louisville law enforcement leaders “are refusing to honor their obligations to disclose the basic information necessary for the citizens of Louisville to have a meaningful debate about what needs to change,” Fleischaker said.
The Louisville mayor, Greg Fischer, called the released report “unacceptable.”
“It’s issues like this that erode public confidence in LMPD’s ability to do its job, and that’s why I’ve ordered an external top-to-bottom review of the department,” he said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press. “I am sorry for the additional pain to the Taylor family and our community.”
Emiene Wright Emiene Wright is associate editor at Cardinal & PIne. Before that she was on the 24-hour news desk of the Miami Herald and the Detroit Free Press, and her writing has been featured in Crisis, the Charlotte Observer, and Our State magazine.
