A police officer involved in the killing of a black woman in the US state of Kentucky will be fired, city officials have announced.
Breonna Taylor, 26, was a decorated emergency medical technician. Photo: Facebook
Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot as she slept when officers entered her flat in Louisville on 13 March during a drugs investigation.
Mayor Greg Fischer said Brett Hankison, one of three officers involved, will lose his badge.
Taylor's name has become a rallying cry at global anti-racism protests.
The other officers have been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation.
Mayor Fischer did not provide more details regarding the decision to fire Hankison, citing a local law.
"Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I very much would like to see changed, both the Chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment, or even the timing of this decision," he said.
In a letter to Hankison published by the Courier-Journal paper, Louisville Police interim chief Robert Schroeder wrote his conduct was "a shock to the conscience" that "demands your termination".
Hankison is accused of "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment, displaying "an extreme indifference to the value of human life".
"I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion," Schroeder added.
"The result of your action seriously impedes the Department's goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department."
Attorneys for Taylor's family said they looked forward to seeing the other officers terminated as well.
"We also look forward to these officers being prosecuted for their roles in her untimely death."
What happened to Breonna Taylor?
Hankison, along with officers John Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove entered Taylor's apartment by executing a "no-knock search warrant" - a judge-approved warrant that allows police to enter a home without permission.
Police said they knocked before using a battering ram to enter the home, but this account has been disputed by Taylor's family and a neighbour.
Once inside, the officers exchanged fire with Taylor's partner, who thought the drug raid was a home invasion. The officers said they returned fire after one officer was shot and wounded.
During the exchange, Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was shot eight times.
A lawsuit filed by Taylor's family accuses the officers of battery, wrongful death, excessive force and gross negligence.
No drugs were found in the property. The lawsuit also says the officers were not looking for her or her partner, but for an unrelated suspect who did not live in the complex.
Louisville's city council voted unanimously in favour of banning no-knock warrants last week. Similar legislation that would ban the warrants nationwide was introduced in the US Congress.
On Sunday, pop star Beyoncé urged the Kentucky Attorney General to bring charges against the three officers involved.
Taylor's killing was propelled into the spotlight again with the death of unarmed African-American man George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month.
- BBC
