Hours of Body-Cam Footage Exposes Gaps in Investigation of Breonna Taylor's Death

The body-cam footage was captured by 45 different body cameras and was shared with Kentucky's attorney general office.

Hours of body camera footage from the Louisville Metro Police Department officers and SWAT Team members have been released revealing a closer look at the evening of Breonna Taylor's death. 

Obtained by VICE News, the footage and documents include what was seen by officers who immediately responded to the scene after the shooting. It was previously not made public. The footage was captured by 45 different body cameras and was included as part of an investigative file compiled by the LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit and was shared with Kentucky’s attorney general office. Officers appear to break multiple department policies and corroborates pieces of Taylor’s boyfriend’s testimony. 

"I’ve never seen anything like this," a former, unnamed Louisville narcotics officer told VICE News. "This is not how it’s supposed to work." He chose to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution for speaking out. 

The former officer also stated superiors on the scene should have separated the officers involved in the incident from the scene, this did not happen. Detectives Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, and Mike Campbell, and Lieutenant Shawn Hoover who were considered main suspects in Breonna Taylor’s death were still allowed to be on the scene after Taylor was pronounced dead by SWAT officers and it was an active crime scene.  This was a violation of LMPD policy which states they should have been “isolated from all non-essential individuals for the remainder of the initial investigation.”

The footage also serves as evidence and backs up Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker’s testimony. The ballistic report unveiled by the Courier Journal that was released alongside the footage disapproves of Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s assertion that Walker shot a police officer which led to Breonna’s death. Cameron ruled out “friendly fire” but the report states it could neither confirm or deny that Sgt. Mattingly was shot by Walker "due to limited markings of comparative value."

As we previously reported, no one has been held responsible for Taylor’s murder. Despite this, two officers Sgt. John Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove received first-degree wanton endangerment charges on Wednesday. These charges don’t address Breonna’s violent death, they address the additional lives that were put at risk as the raid took place.