Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, speaks about what happened the night she was killed in an exclusive interview with Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was shot seven times by Louisville police officers in her apartment home on March 13. Authorities were executing a no-knock warrant for Taylor's ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, for a drug investigation.
In an interview recorded the day of the shooting, Louisville police Lieutenant Shawn Hoover claimed officers identified themselves a couple times and waited seconds before entering Taylor's apartment. "So it was the third time that we were approaching, it had been like 45 seconds if not a minute," Hoover said. "And then I said, 'Let's go, let's breach it.'"
Walker, who was with Taylor the night of the shooting, claims the police never identified themselves. "I'm a million percent sure that nobody identified themselves," he said. When police knocked, Walker said he and Taylor asked "several times" who was on the other of the door. "It was dead silent in the house," he described. "And it was 12:00, 1:00 at night, or whatever time. So it was — it's always quiet. We live in a quiet place. So if somebody was on the other side of the door saying anything, we would hear them."
There was no response, Walker recounted. "So the next thing I know the door is flying open," he told King, adding that the police officer's sudden breach caused him to fire a warning shot. "That's why I grabbed the gun. Didn't have a clue. "I mean, if it was the police at the door, and they just said, 'We're the police,' me or Breonna didn't have a reason at all not to open the door to see what they wanted."
During the incident, officer Jonathan Mattingly was reportedly hit in the thigh. A ballistic report said there was no conclusive evidence his wound was caused by Walker's firearm. Authorities also found no drugs in Taylor's apartment, and Glover added that she has never been involved in drug dealing. "That's why I never thought it was the police. Because why would the police be coming here?" Walker said.
The broadcast interview will be aired Wednesday (October 14) at 7 a.m.
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