The Louisville Police Department have finally released the incident report from the night 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot dead by three officers in her home, and there is a ton of information missing as well as some peculiar details listed. On Wednesday (June 10th), nearly three months after Breonna died at the hands of police on March 13th, the LMPD have made the incident report public. The four-page report lists the date, time, case number, and incident location, as well as the victim’s name (Breonna Shaquille Taylor), her age (26 years old), race (Black) and gender (female). However, details like Breonna’s address and date of birth—information that has already become public knowledge—are noticeably missing.
Even more absurd, the report lists Breonna’s injuries as “none,” despite the fact that, according to her family’s attorneys, she was shot at least eight times by officers and died in a pool of blood on the floor in her hallway. It also checks off “no” for forced entry under charges, which read “death investigation—LMPD involved.” However, since the officers had a “no-knock” entry warrant, they used a battering ram to bust through Breonna’s apartment door.
The report goes on to list the three officers involved in her death—Jon Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison—as “Offenders.” In the narrative section of the incident’s events, it simply reads, “PIU investigation,” and the rest of the report hasn’t been filled in at all.
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“This document is proof that LMPD continues to make a mockery of transparency,” said Jon Fleischaker, counsel for the Louisville Courier Journal of the USA TODAY Network and principal author of the state’s Open Records law that requires the release of public documents in all but extremely rare circumstances. “Under the Fischer administration, there has been a consistent policy and practice of refusing to tell the public what is going on with the police, regardless of how inappropriate the officer conduct has been.”
On March 13th, Mattingly, Cosgroe, and Hankinson forcibly entered Breonna’s home to conduct a search warrant, ultimately discovering they had broken into the wrong house. The officers claimed to have announced their presence, but Kenneth Walker, Breonna’s boyfriend, insisted they didn’t, and he fired a warning shot under the impression that they were intruders, striking Mattingly in the leg. The officers then fired shot after shot, eight of which hit Breonna while she slept. All three officers have been placed on administrative reassignment pending the investigation, but not one has been arrested or charged.
