Myles Cosgrove testifies against Brett Hankison in second day of federal trial

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The officer who fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor told a federal jury his colleague who fired blindly into the apartment from outside put everyone’s lives at risk.

Myles Cosgrove testified against Brett Hankison who faces civil rights violations.

On a day when Breonna Taylor’s younger sister testified, as well as a police commander, the major testimony came from another officer on that botched raid.

Former Sergeant Myles Cosgrove told jurors when he entered Breonna Taylor’s apartment he saw a muzzle flash and a human silhouette right in front of him.

Sgt. John Mattingly was shot and fell backward, and Cosgrove aimed at his target and fired sixteen times, killing Breonna Taylor.

That exchange lasted seconds and all the officers began running toward the parking lot to escape a deadly situation.

That’s when Cosgrove saw muzzle flashes from the parking lot.

He later learned it was Hankison firing through a sliding glass door and a window covered by blackout curtains.

It was those curtains Cosgrove said he couldn’t see through with his own flashlight and would not have shot through.

Cosgrove said Hankison’s decision to shoot was unfathomably dangerous and put the officers’ lives and anyone in those buildings at risk.

However, defense attorneys picked his statements apart.

Cosgrove admitted he came to that conclusion much later following the shooting, not necessarily at the same time as Hankison.

They also got him to testify that he did not hear Hankison’s shots following the gunfire, and did not actually see Hankison firing, so he could not definitively say Hankison fired well after the threat ended from inside Taylor’s apartment.

Prosecutors are trying to convince the jury Hankison’s actions violated the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, and the neighbors living in the next-door apartment.

The defense is trying to point out that Hankison’s actions have to be judged in the moment from his perspective, not years later.

If convicted he faces up to life in prison.

The trial continues Monday.

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