Louisville police release the Breonna Taylor incident report. It's virtually blank
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nearly three months after Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her South End apartment, the department has released the incident report from that night.
Except, it is almost entirely blank.
The four-page report lists the time, date, case number, incident location and the victim's name — Breonna Shaquelle Taylor — as well as the fact that she is a 26-year-old black female.
But it redacts Taylor's street number, apartment number and date of birth — all of which have been widely reported.
And it lists her injuries as "none," even though she was shot at least eight times and died on her hallway floor in a pool of blood, according to attorneys for her family.
It lists the charges as "death investigation — LMPD involved" but checks the "no" box under "forced entry," even though officers used a battering ram to knock in Taylor's apartment door.
It also lists under the "Offenders" portion of the report the three officers who fired in Taylor's apartment, fatally shooting her — Sgt. Jon Mattingly, 47; Myles Cosgrove, 42; and Brett Hankison, 44.
See also:Citing Taylor's death, new report calls for the end of no-knock warrants
What's missing from the report
But the most important portion of the report — the "narrative" of events that spells out what happened March 13 — has only two words: "PIU investigation."
And the rest of the report has no information filled in at all.
"I read this report and have to ask the mayor, the police chief and the city's lawyers: Are you kidding? This is what you consider being transparent to taxpayers and the public?" asked Richard A. Green, editor of The Courier Journal.
"At a time when so many are rightfully demanding to know more details about that tragic March evening, I fail to understand this lack of transparency. The public deserves more."
The police department acknowledged errors in the report that it said was the result of the reporting program creating a paper file.
"Inaccuracies in the report are unacceptable to us, and we are taking immediate steps to correct the report and to ensure the accuracy of incident reports going forward," the statement said.
Mayor Greg Fischer was less forgiving, issue a statement Wednesday night calling the released report "unacceptable."
"Full stop. It’s issues like this that erode public confidence in LMPD’s ability to do its job, and that’s why I’ve ordered an external top-to-bottom review of the department," he said. "I am sorry for the additional pain to the Taylor family and our community."
How Breonna Taylor was killed March 13
Taylor was at her Springfield Drive apartment around 12:40 a.m. when the three plainclothes officers used a no-knock search warrant signed by Circuit Judge Mary Shaw to enter her home as part of a narcotics investigation.
Officers say they announced their presence, but Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and several neighbors say they did not. Walker has said he thought intruders were trying to break in and fired a warning shot that struck Mattingly in the leg.
Mattingly, Hankison and Cosgrove are on administrative reassignment pending the investigation. The detective who requested the warrant, Joshua Jaynes, has also been reassigned, LMPD announced Wednesday.
“This document is proof that LMPD continues to make a mockery of transparency,” said Jon Fleischaker, counsel for the Courier Journal and one of the principal authors of the state’s Open Records law that requires the release of public documents in all but extremely rare circumstances.
Read this:Police officer in Breonna Taylor shooting accused of sexual assault
Related:Louisville detective who obtained no-knock search warrant reassigned
“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 — even when it was criminal, as in the LMPD Explorer case," Fleischaker said.
Courier Journal sues to get shooting information
With debate about police reform taking place nationwide, Fleischaker said city leaders "are refusing to honor their obligations to disclose the basic information necessary for the citizens of Louisville to have a meaningful debate about what needs to change."
"How can we even seriously debate police reform if the police won’t engage and the mayor won’t stand up to them?" he said.
The Courier Journal is suing LMPD, seeking the immediate release of the department's investigative file in Taylor's shooting.
Police have refused to release the file, saying it is an ongoing investigation.
The Courier Journal also filed an appeal with the state attorney general’s office in May to object to open-records decisions Louisville public agencies made refusing to release records underlying the Taylor case, including the incident report, 911 calls made in the incident and Taylor's autopsy report.
The city has since released Walker's 911 call — but only after an attorney for Taylor's family gave it to news media hours earlier.
Hannah Drake, a Louisville-based writer and activist, called the report "a slap in the face to all black women."
"It isn’t enough that black women in this city are grieving and hurting," Drake wrote. "Oh no. The LMPD must add insult to injury by releasing a virtually blank incident report.
"This is the best they could offer Breonna, even in her death."
Reach Tessa Duvall at [email protected] and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story misspelled Breonna Shaquelle Taylor's middle name, which was also misspelled in the incident report. The story also misstated Circuit Judge Mary Shaw’s title.