The fired Louisville police officer whom investigators say shot and killed Breonna Taylor during a 2020 narcotics raid has been hired by a Kentucky sheriff’s office, prompting protesters to congregate Monday.
Myles Cosgrove is joining the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed his hiring to the local news station WHAS.
On March 13, 2020, Cosgrove was one of three officers to fire a weapon during an encounter that left Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, dead in her Louisville apartment, according to investigators. Officials say the officers were returning fire after Taylor’s boyfriend shot during what he suspected to be an intrusion.
Cosgrove, who was not charged, fired his gun 16 times, investigators said. An FBI probe found that Cosgrove likely fired the shot that killed Taylor. Officer Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg, also shot Taylor during the raid, according to investigators. Mattingly also was not charged.
The Louisville Metro Police Department fired Cosgrove in January 2021, saying he violated the department’s use-of-force protocol and didn’t use a body camera.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a Us.Mistertruth request for comment. On Monday, a small group of demonstrators came together in Carrolton, Ky., and chanted, “Cosgrove has got to go.”
“I think he should be in jail,” 24-year-old protestor Haley Wilson told The Associated Press.
Cosgrove was allowed to apply for law enforcement jobs in Kentucky because the state’s law enforcement council voted in November against removing his peace officer certification. Carroll County’s Chief Deputy Robert Miller reportedly referenced Cosgrove not being charged when discussing him joining the sheriff’s office.