Louisville Officer Who Fired Fatal Shot At Breonna Taylor Has Retirement Fundraiser
A fundraiser has been initiated in order to support the retirement of one of the Louisville officers who was involved in the fatal shooting death of Breonna Taylor. The campaign, which is currently on GiveSendGo, is trying to raise $75,000 to help Officer Myles Cosgrove purchase the rest of his service time "so that he can retire and continue to focus on the safety of his family."
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Upon announcing the grand jury decision not to indict Cosgrove or the other two officers involved in Taylor’s death (Jonathan Mattingly and Brett Hankison), Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said according to ballistics tests, Cosgrove was identified as the officer who fired the fatal shot at the 26-year-old EMT. As of Wednesday afternoon, the campaign had already raised $9,800.
Jacob Wells, the founder of GiveSendGo, has confirmed that the campaign was created by Cosgrove's immediate family and said the proceeds will go to them.
“It has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position serving the community with the Louisville Metro Police Department,” the family wrote in the fundraiser’s description.
Both Cosgrove and Mattingly are on administrative leave while separate internal and FBI investigations are conducted into the March 13 botched drug raid at Taylor's apartment. Mattingly was wounded in the shooting. AG Cameron determined that the officers were “justified in their use of force” after it was determined that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker fired the shot that hit Mattingly.
Breonna Taylor was killed on March 13 when the three officers entered her apartment under a “no-knock” warrant. But the suspect they were attempting to arrest had already been taken into custody earlier in the day. Hankinson was the only officer charged in relation to Taylor’s death. Last week, a grand jury returned three counts of wanton endangerment. He was fired in June for his conduct during the raid.
On September 10, Greg Fischer, Louisville’s mayor, issued a public apology to Taylor’s family, admitting the “mistakes” he and his police department made surrounding Breonna’s death and the subsequent aftermath. He also said he and his team are working to “address the challenges we face.” According to Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, Fischer’s apology was a long time coming and something she believes took him a while to create.
