Unarmed EMT Shot & Killed By Cops Searching For A Suspect Who Was Already In Custody

Trigger Warning: Violence, Police Brutality

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT was shot dead on March 13th. She was killed by cops who entered her home early in the morning as a part of a narcotics investigation, reveals USA Today. They were apparently looking for a suspect who was already in police custody. While cops say that they began shooting after being shot at first, a lawsuit says the cops broke into Taylor's home without revealing their identity. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker assumed they were burglars and fired on them in self-defence, causing them to fire back blindly, resulting in Taylor being shot eight times, which killed her. 

The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) claims that despite having a "no-knock" warrant, they knocked several times and that they “announced their presence as police who were there with a search warrant” and that they only began shooting only after Walker fired first, according to Courier-Journal. The lawsuit alleges that the cops did not announce themselves, and they came in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles at 1 am, reports NBC News, causing Walker, a licensed gun-owner to fire at them. While the LMPD claims that Taylor's residence has some connection with the suspect, the houses are ten miles apart from each other, and the suspect was already in custody at the time. 

 Apparently, there were records to show that a suspect involved in the narcotics investigation, Jamarcus Glover, had used Taylor's home to receive mail, keep drugs, or stash money earned from the sale of drugs. "The defendants then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life," the lawsuit alleges. "Shots were blindly fired by the officers all throughout Breonna's home." Taylor and Walker didn't have a criminal history or drug convictions. No drugs were found in the apartment. The warrant also states that a car registered to Taylor was seen parked on several occasions in front of a "drug house" known to the suspect.

As the cops broke in, Walker even made a call to 911  believing "that their house was being invaded." "Kenny (Walker), who is a licensed gun owner, a registered gun owner, and to protect his castle, to protect his woman, and protect himself, got his gun, and, as they came through the front door, he shot," attorney Benjamin Crump said. Crump called Taylor's death a "senseless killing." "We stand with the family of this young woman is demanding answers from the Louisville Police Department," he said in a statement Monday on Twitter. Crump is the same attorney who is handling the case for Ahmaud Arbery, the man who was pursued, shot, and killed by two non-police white men in Georgia.

The attorney called out the police department for not rendering "any answers regarding the facts and circumstances of how this tragedy occurred." "Breonna Taylor was sleeping while black in the sanctity of our own home," Crump said at a Wednesday press conference, adding, "we cannot continue to allow them to unnecessarily and justifiably kill our black women and escape any accountability." Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer filed a lawsuit in April for wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. During an interview, Crump said that Taylor was "completely innocent" and went on to say that "black women's lives matter too."

Since the investigation is still ongoing, a police official had now new comments to add. The officers, identified as Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove were reportedly reassigned, pending the outcome of the investigation. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said on Twitter Tuesday, "As always, my priority is that the truth comes out, and for justice to follow the path of truth." "The truth will be uncovered," Sam Aguiar, another lawyer for the family, said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that he hopes that the exposure Taylor's case is getting will help develop it.