Former St. A Lewis police officer cried on the witness stand during today’s trial, saying he believed his fellow police officers were killed by Breona Taylor’s boyfriend when he returned fire in a wild shootout during the failed order without a hit.
Former Louisville subway police officer Brett Hankison, 45, testified on Wednesday that when officers broke down the door to Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020, everything was dark.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at them with a 9mm pistol, thinking they were intruders, but Hankison said that because of poor visibility, Walker’s posture and the bright flash of the pistol, he believed the officers had been shot with ARs. 15 rifles.
“It looked like they were being executed with this rifle,” Hankison said as he began to cry, remembering the moment Walker shot the sergeant. John Mattingley at his feet.
When asked how he reacted, Hankison said, “I returned fire.
“I felt helpless to have a gun to fight a rifle.”
He said that because of the darkness, he fired his weapon where he believed Walker was to help his fellow officers. He said the chaotic shootout lasted between five and ten seconds.
Hankison added that the incident was the first time he fired his weapon while on duty.
Although the former officer fired 10 shots near the side door of the Louisville apartment complex, prosecutors said the bullets threatened Taylor’s neighbors, including a couple and their unborn child.
Hankison has been charged with three counts of unreasonable threat, a low-level crime that could result in five years in prison.
Louisville subway police officer Brett Hankison testified that he believed that Breona Taylor’s boyfriend was armed with a rifle when he shot at police during the chaotic attack on Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020.
Hankison said the incident was the first time he fired his weapon while on duty.
Hankison said officers quickly helped Mattingley out of the apartment complex and he was quick to brief arriving staff on the situation inside.
He added that after the situation calmed down, Walker left the apartment with his hands up and Hankison instructed him to approach while questioning the man about the shooting with police.
Hankison claims that Walker denied firing on police and instead blamed Taylor, saying she was the one shooting at police.
“It shook me,” Hankison said, explaining that the attack should have taken place when Walker was alone to arrest him on drug charges.
“He had to be alone.” There shouldn’t have been a girl inside, Hankison said as he began to cry again.
Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Barbara Maine Weiley, in her opening remarks last week, told jurors that the case was not about Taylor’s murder, for which the city of Louisville paid an agreement to the family of the murdered woman.
She said the allegations were aimed at Hankinson’s decision to shoot blindly through Taylor’s apartment, threatening his neighbors.
Before Taylor’s door was broken, Hankison quarreled with a neighbor and told him to go back inside.
“This is escalating the situation,” Whaley said. Then, after the shooting started, “He fired in a different direction than the other two detectives,” she said.
Defense attorney Stuart Matthews said Hankison was acquitted for what he did during a chaotic scene that lasted about 10 to 15 seconds from breaking down Taylor’s door to stopping the shooting.
“This case is not about the death of Breona Taylor, but in a sense it’s all about it, because that’s what started this whole situation,” Matthews said. “Breona Taylor was a peripheral part of this whole deal, but it was tied to it,” and their ban on knocking meant police officers were allowed in.
Kenneth Walker (right) is shown in an undated photo with Breona Taylor. Hankison said that because of Walker’s position, poor visibility and intense lightning from his pistol, he believed the man was armed with an AR-15 rifle and “executed” officers.
Hankison defender Stuart Matthews said Hankison was acquitted of what he did during a chaotic scene. Pictured: at the Louisville Courthouse on Wednesday
Kenneth had shot a sergeant. John Mattingley (above) at his feet in the chaos. Hankison said he was shocked when the officer fell and returned fire on Walker.
After Walker shot at people smashing her door and other officers fired back, Hankison “tried to protect and save the lives of his fellow officers who he thought were still trapped in that fatal funnel inside that door.” said Matthews, “as he was taught to do – he was taught to shoot until the threat was stopped.
In cross-examination, Witness Cody Etherton admitted that “everything was chaotic.”
“From the time I woke up, I heard a boom, to the shooting coming through my apartment, almost killing my girlfriend, yes, it was chaotic,” he said.
Etheron added: “One or two more inches and I would be shot. I would never be able to meet my son.
Matthews also filed a $ 12 million civil lawsuit that Etherton and future girlfriend Chelsea Naper filed against the city and police, among others. – This does not affect your testimony, the fact that you want to make some money from it? Matthews asked.
“Of course we want to be compensated, but Chelsea and I have never talked about how much money we want from that,” Etherton said.
Kenneth Walker, Breona Taylor’s boyfriend, shoots at police officers carrying out the attack
Judge Ann Bailey Smith was sworn in as ten jurors and five women as jurors and deputies to hear the case. The court refused to provide information about their race or ethnicity.
Hankison’s jury was chosen from a larger than normal pool because of the national publicity that Taylor’s case attracted after the deadly attack on March 13, 2020.
Taylor’s name, along with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbury – black men killed in clashes with police and white persecutors – became a rallying cry during racial justice protests around the world in 2020.
The 12 jurors and three deputies are expected to walk around Taylor’s apartment and hear testimony from Hankison during the trial, which is expected to take two weeks.
Several other current and former police officers are expected to testify.
The 26-year-old black woman was working as an ambulance specialist and was settling down to bed when Louisville officials kicked her door with a drug warrant.
They drew fire from Taylor’s boyfriend, who said he thought an intruder was penetrating. Two officers at the door returned fire, killing Taylor.
No one has been charged with her death, although one of the officers was shot in the leg. The city of Louisville settled the lawsuit for the wrongful death of her family in September 2020 for $ 12 million.
Walker was armed with Glock when he fired on police he considered intruders. The weapon is pictured at the scene in 2020
WATCH: Former Louisville subway officer Brett Hankison became emotional when he spoke about the moment as a sergeant. Jonathan Mattingley was shot dead during the attack on Breona Taylor’s apartment. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/kBguDQ2URS
– Law & Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 2, 2022
Police camera footage shows Walker on the night of the shooting. Hankison said Walker blamed Taylor for shooting the officers
Shortly before she was shot, Taylor was getting ready for bed and going to bed. Her bedroom is depicted in this file
A neighbor described how Taylor’s boyfriend tried to CPR her after she was shot. The 26-year-old victim, who was an emergency medical technician in Louisville, could not be saved