Audio reveals seven cops raided Breonna Taylor’s apartment with battering rams

Newly-released audio recordings from the investigation into the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor reveal Louisville Police officers arrived at her home with battering rams despite it being considered a ‘soft target’ and cops admitting they did not ‘anticipate a threat.’

Police interviews with Sergeant John Mattingly, who led the late-night raid on March 13, and Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who was at the home during the shooting, were obtained by NBC News. 

The audio clips have shed new light on the moments leading up to death of the 26-year-old EMT, who was shot eight times after cops barged into her home while operating on a no-knock warrant during a drug investigation.

Walker, who mistook the officers for intruders, was later charged for attempted murder after firing his licensed gun and striking Mattingly in the leg. 

None of the police officers have been charged in Taylor’s death, and the new recordings reveal Sgt Jason Vance, who conducted the interviews, told Mattingly that the cops’ approach was ‘the most passive way in.’  

The three officers in the case – from left, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove – have not been charged in the shooting despite protests

Cops’ version of events have been disputed by Walker and Taylor’s family, who say the officers never identified themselves as police upon arrival. 

In the 40-minute audio recording, Mattingly is heard insisting that officers banged on the door and said they were cops.  

Walker said he and Taylor, who were watching a movie in their bedroom, shouted, ‘who is it?’ but did not get a response, prompting him to grab his gun and fire a ‘warning shot’ fearing it was an intruder.  

Mattingly and the other officers serving the warrant, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, then began shooting ‘erratically, recklessly, willfully, wantonly and maliciously from inside the home, outside the home, outside a neighbor’s home, outside Breonna’s patio door and outside the window to Breonna’s sister´s room,’ according to the family’s lawsuit.

Sgt Jason Vance, who conducted the interviews, is heard telling Mattingly that the cops’ approach was ‘the most passive way in.’  

Taylor was struck by bullets in the hallway and suffered eight gunshot wounds.   

Walker was arrested and charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer after Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg during the raid.

Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker (right) was at the home the night of the fatal raid and had fired his licensed gun fearing the cops were intruders 

Taylor – who had no criminal record and worked for two local hospitals – was killed after police fired at least 20 rounds into the home, according to a lawsuit filed by her family

The attempted murder charge against Walker was later dropped. 

Hankison, 44, was later fired after it was found he violated department policies by ‘blindly’ firing 10 rounds into Taylor’s home during the incident. The two other cops have been placed on administrative  reassignment. 

The family’s suit, which named the three officers as defendants, said Taylor lived for another five or six minutes after she was shot but an ambulance was not on the scene.

The complaint also said police conducted a concerted effort to remove Glover and other alleged drug dealers from a residential area near downtown to make way for a new development with federal funding.