Kentucky State Police's Ballistics Report Raises More Questions About Breonna Taylor Investigation

More questions about the night Breonna Taylor was killed emerged after the Kentucky State Police released its ballistics report about the shooting in Louisville. It specifically raises questions about Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shooting Officer Jonathan Mattingly in the leg during the police raid.

The state police’s report confirmed that Mattingly was struck in the thigh with a 9mm bullet on the night of the March 13 raid. However, it added that investigators were unable to identify the gun it was fired from because of “limited markings” and had not “identified nor eliminated as having been fired” from Walker’s 9mm handgun.

“One projectile with possible blood, located on the ground in breezeway area of 3003 Springfield Dr. (Due to the limited markings of comparative value, item was neither identified nor eliminated as having been fired from #45),” a report provided to VICE News said.

Another wrinkle was added by Steve Romines, one of Walker’s attorneys, who obtained weapons records of the officers involved in the shooting from the Louisville Metro Police Department.

That report said Brett Hankison, the only officer charged, was issued a 9mm handgun along with the .40-caliber handguns the officers used. However, it did not say whether Hankison fired his weapon during the raid. Hankinson was not charged with Taylor's death, only for firing into neighboring apartments.

The Louisville police report does not exonerate Walker, but it challenges the findings from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s investigation issued last week.

Cameron said his office’s investigation found that while the three officers fired multiple shots into the couple’s apartment, Mattingly was not hit by friendly fire.

“Mr. Walker admitted that he fired one shot and was the first to shoot,” Cameron said at the Wednesday press conference. “In addition to all the testimony, the ballistics report shows that the round that struck Sergeant Mattingly was fired from a 9 mm handgun. The LMPD officers fired 40-caliber handguns.”

The state police’s ballistics report adds to the growing list of possible discrepancies in Cameron’s investigation.

Among them:

• Whether Cameron categorized the shots fired by the three officers as self-defense, a power provided to prosecutors in Kentucky.
• If the grand jury heard from any of the 12 witnesses in the same apartment complex who refuted the police's claim that the officers made themselves known before entering Taylor’s apartment as well as the one witness who backed their claim.
• Videos also started leaking online showing the aftermath of the shooting and possible violations by the officers involved.