Lawsuit filed after Kentucky EMT killed in "botched police raid"

LOUISVILLE, Ken. (WAVE/NBC News) – The lawyer for the family of a 26-year-old Louisville, Kentucky woman shot and killed in her own home said Tuesday that Louisville Metro Police Department officers are to blame for a “botched police raid.”

Breonna Taylor, an EMT who worked for two local hospitals, was shot dead inside her apartment in March.

LMPD officials said three officers went to the home on March 13 to serve a warrant. After they announced themselves and entered the apartment, they were met with gunfire from Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, detectives said.

Tuesday, the attorney now representing Taylor’s family, Benjamin Crump, shared his account of what happened that night.

“There are witnesses who are her neighbors… nobody heard the police announcing themselves,” Crump said. “This was a botched execution of a search warrant where they already had the person they were searching for in custody.”

Taylor’s family has filed a civil lawsuit that states Walker thought someone was breaking into the apartment, and that’s why he fired back in self-defense. Official documents also showed neither Taylor nor Walker had a history of drugs or violence.

Walker was shot at least eight times. The lawsuit claims officers fired through closed blinds, without any consideration for human life.

LMPD said it would not comment on a pending investigation.