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Published 17:48 23 Sep 2020 GMT
A grand jury has charged one police officer over the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor at her home in Kentucky.
As reported by CNN, Brett Hankison, the former Louisville police officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor, has been indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree.
The two other officers involved in the March shooting - Sergeant John Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove - have not been charged.
As reported by BBC News, Hankinson later fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June, with his termination letter stating that investigators found he had "wantonly and blindly fired 10 rounds" into Taylor's home.
Officials earlier agreed to pay her family $12 million (£9.3 million) in a settlement.
Prior to the announcements on the case, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron offered his condolences to Taylor's family.
"Every day this family wakes up to the realization that someone they loved is no longer with them," he said, adding: "In this case, a human life was lost. We can not forget that."
Cameron added: "My job as the special prosecutor in this case was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Ms. Taylor's life."
The long-awaited findings of a grand jury probe come more than six months after Taylor's death.
On 13 March, Ms Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was at home in bed with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker when officers from Louisville Metro Police Department entered the apartment shortly after midnight.
Per The Independent, Taylor was shot at least five times in a mistaken drugs raid in the city of Louisville.
Prior to the raid, judge had reportedly signed a no-knock" warrant that gave officers permission to enter.
However, the warrant's order was later changed to a "knock and announce" - but Walker has since stated that the officers did not announce themselves - despite the couple asking who was outside the front door after hearing banging.
Walker has stated that he believed Taylor's ex-boyfriend was attempting to break in, causing him to fire a gun at the officers when they broke down the door - striking Officer Mattingly in the leg.
The officers then returned fire, striking Taylor five times.
The Jefferson County coroner reported that Breonna Taylor died within a minute after she was shot.
Charges held against Walker for firing his weapon were later dropped.
Taylor's death - along with the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others - have since become a rallying cry for anti-racism and Black Lives Matter protesters.
Over the last six months, demonstrators have called for people to "say her name" and ordered that the three officers involved to be arrested and charged.
Following today's ruling, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder announced this afternoon that a 72-hour countywide curfew will begin at 9:00 PM.
Fearing further unrest, the Kentucky National Guard has been activated, and, per CNN, Fisher has stated:
"I urge everyone to commit once again to a peaceful, lawful response, like we've seen here for the majority of the past several months."
