The chaotic police operation that night was exacerbated by Hankison, who was accused by his own department of
“blindly” firing 10 rounds into Taylor’s apartment from an outdoor patio.
Hankison has since been fired and is appealing his termination. His attorney, David Leightty, has declined comment.
Schroeder, the interim police chief, wrote in a June letter that Hankison violated standard operating procedure when his “actions displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he “wantonly and blindly fired
ten (10) rounds” into Taylor’s apartment.
Some rounds reached an apartment next door, “endangering the three lives in that apartment,” Schroeder wrote. The chief called the officer’s conduct “a shock to the conscience.”