One of the three Louisville Metropolitan Police Department officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in her home is now suing Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
Louisville Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly has filed a civil suit against Walker for causing him “severe trauma, mental anguish and emotional distress.” Walker shot Mattingly in the leg after three cops burst into Taylor’s home on a no-knock warrant at 1 a.m.re March 13, 2020.
Mattingly’s lawyers added in the legal documents that “Walker’s conduct in shooting Mattingly is outrageous, intolerable and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality.” The Louisville-based Courier-Journal reported that the bullet from Walker’s gun struck Mattingly in the femoral artery and required five hours of surgery to repair.
Walker insists that he did not hear the officers identify themselves before bursting through Taylor’s door. Therefore, as a licensed gun carrier, Walker was within his legal rights to shoot at the door in self-defense believing that he and Taylor were being robbed.
Moreover, Walker’s attorney Steve Romines said in a statement to the Courier-Journal that “this is the latest in a cycle of police aggression, deflection of responsibility and obstruction of the facts.”
Romines added that “the counterclaim just brings it full circle. If Kenny can be sued for defending himself, make no mistake, all lawful gun owners’ rights are at risk. And that should scare everyone. We intend to defend Kenny — once again — from baseless charges intended to harm, intimidate and cover up the events of March 13, 2020.”
Mattingly rationalized the actions of the three officers during an interview with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America,” in which he also blamed Walker for Taylor’s death. Watch the video below.
