The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department has implemented a “state of emergency,” effective immediately, as the city prepares for the decision about whether to indict the officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor.
Police Chief Robert J. Schroeder enacted an all-hands-on-deck approach, canceling all police leaves and vacations as Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is expected to make his announcement in the coming days. Schroeder also is ordering all officers to work 12-hour shifts until at least Friday, Sept. 25.
“In anticipation of Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s announcement in the Breonna Taylor case, I am declaring a state of emergency for the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD),” Schroeder said in a statement that was obtained by NBC News.
Cameron has been presenting his office’s case to a grand jury that reportedly convened last week, but there has been no word about whether deliberations have begun. However, police and federal officials appear not to be taking any chances. For example, the windows of several federal buildings already have been boarded up.
Taylor was in her home at 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020, when three LMPD officers executed a no-knock warrant on her apartment in search of drugs and a suspected dealer. Taylor’s boyfriend at the time, Kenneth Walker, who had a license to carry a gun, fired in the direction of the busted-down door out of fear that the home was being robbed. He struck one of the officers in the leg, and the three officers quickly returned fire, striking Taylor eight times, killing her on the scene.
Walker initially was charged with attempted murder, but the charge was quickly dropped. One officer, Brett Hankison, has already been terminated from the police force.
