Officer involved in Breonna Taylor raid countersues her boyfriend for shooting him

An officer involved in the execution of a “no-knock” raid at Breonna Taylor’s home in Louisville, Ky., that resulted in her death countersued her boyfriend for shooting him during the March 13 incident.

Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, was at her apartment the night she was killed. Walker heard a banging at the door and called out to ask who it was when police conducted their raid. When Walker did not hear a response and the door came off its hinges, he grabbed a gun and fired. The shots hit Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. 

Taylor was shot by police and died that night. 

The lawsuit filed by Mattingly alleges Walker inflicted battery, assault and emotional distress on him by shooting him in the thigh after police entered Taylor’s home earlier this year.

Mattingly is requesting a jury trial, damages and attorney fees, according to the lawsuit. 

“Sgt. Mattingly was shot and nearly killed by Kenneth Walker,” Mattingly’s attorney Kent Wicker told BuzzFeed News in a statement. “He’s entitled to, and should, use the legal process to seek a remedy for the injury that Walker has caused him.”

Mattingly’s countersuit comes as a response to Walker’s lawsuit he filed against several Kentucky officials this summer. Walker’s suit alleged he opened fire in self-defense, saying he thought the officers were intruders.

Walker’s attorney Steve Romines told Buzzfeed Kentucky’s self-defense “stand your ground” law would protect his client.

“This is the latest in a cycle of police aggression, deflection of responsibility, and obstruction of the facts in what is an obvious coverup,” he said in a statement. “The counterclaim just brings it full circle.”

Walker was initially arrested over charges of attempted murder in the incident, though his charges were dropped.

An officer involved in Taylor’s death, Brett Hankison, was charged with wanton endangerment after firing shots into neighboring apartments during the incident. 

No officers involved in the March 13 raid on Taylor’s home have been charged over her death. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) said the grand jury decided the officers could not be charged because they were acting in self-defense after being shot at by Walker.

The raid of Taylor’s residence in March added to the national outrage sparked by the death of the George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody this summer. Both Floyd’s and Taylor’s deaths have added to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement aimed at protesting against police brutality and racism.