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A ballistics report pokes holes in Kentucky AG's claim that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot a police officer

Alex Nicoll   

A ballistics report pokes holes in Kentucky AG's claim that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot a police officer
  • A Kentucky State Police report couldn't prove if a bullet that struck a Lousiville Metro Police Department officer during a raid came from Breonna Taylor's boyfriend's, Kenneth Walker, gun.
  • Walker admitted to firing a warning shot, after which officers unloaded more than 30 bullets into Taylor's apartment, killing Taylor in her bed.
  • Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said on Wednesday the investigation had ruled out "friendly fire" for the bullet that hit an officer.

A Kentucky State Police ballistics report doesn't prove that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot a police officer the night she was killed by the police, according to a copy of the report shared by VICE News.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told reporters on Wednesday that the investigation had ruled out "friendly fire" from other officers as the source of the bullet that hit Louisville Metro Police Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh.

The report from Walker's defense attorney, which VICE acquired through a screenshot, was unable to prove conclusively that the bullet which hit was fired from Walker's gun, though it did not eliminate the possibility that Walker's gun fired the shot.

Walker has admitted that he fired a warning shot after hearing police who were serving a no-knock warrant at Taylor's apartment when they unloaded more than 30 bullets into the apartment, killing Taylor. He said he assumed that the noise was from someone attempting to break into his apartment.

The bullet that hit Mattingly was a 9-mm bullet. Walker's handgun is a 9-mm, while the three other officers at the front door were carrying .40 caliber handguns, which Cameron said eliminated any police as the potential shooter.

However, that evening, Walker's lawyer Steven Romines claimed on CNN that former Detective Brett Hankinson was also issued a 9-millimeter handgun per Louisville Metro Police records. An LMPD spokesperson declined to provide the Louisville Courier Journal with a copy of this documentation without an open records request. The paper has filed a request but not heard back from the department.

Hankinson was charged with three charges of first-degree wanton endangerment for three shots that were fired into a neighboring apartment, but no officers were charged with Taylor's death. The city of Louisville agreed to pay $12 million to Taylor's family to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit.

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