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No cameras captured the final minutes of Breonna Taylor’s life. We used crime scene evidence and testimony to reconstruct what happened and show the mistakes that led to her killing by police. With @singhvianjali @NatalieReneau @DrewJordan_NYT Thread 
https://nyti.ms/3mSUptT
https://nyti.ms/3mSUptT
Our investigation began when we obtained over 1,000 crime scene photos of Breonna Taylor’s apartment. One immediate revelation then was the police fired several more bullets (32) that initially claimed (~18).
My colleague @singhvianjali - who’s an architect and @nytgraphics reporter - used the photos and SWAT videos to precisely model Taylor’s apartment. We then catalogued each bullet hole, trajectory and possible corresponding image.
We focused on using the crime scene analysis and testimony to visually reconstruct what happened and effectively show what police body cameras should have shown.
In these documents and in other releases, it was chilling to see dozens of bullets smash household items in almost every room of Taylor’s home.
And to see the bullet holes in kitchen cabinets, Taylor’s shower and soap dish, closets, windows and walls, even passing into the ceiling, through her neighbor’s apartment and out the roof.
My colleague @singhvianjali - who’s an architect and @nytgraphics reporter - used the photos and SWAT videos to precisely model Taylor’s apartment. We then catalogued each bullet hole, trajectory and possible corresponding image.
Meanwhile, @NatalieReneau and I watched over testimony the police officers gave to investigators, and what some told SWAT officers right after, which allowed us to recreate - and question - what they said happened.
We likewise scrutinized what Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker said to investigators, in his 911 call, in police footage immediately after the shooting as he was being arrested, in jailhouse calls and conversations, and in media interviews.
He was consistent throughout multiple conversations with different people, some he didn't know would be relayed, in his assertion that he could not hear police announce themselves, and about what he and Taylor heard during the raid.
It’s a critical point: inside a cavernous breezeway, while a discussion with a neighbor is happening, could Taylor & Walker have clearly heard the police announce? Police didn’t do so initially, and according to the Lieutenant, didn’t "yell" until they were ramming in the door.
We also examined 911 calls and police interviews with Taylor’s neighbors whose doorways are in the same breezeway. Investigators specifically asked if they heard police announce. None did. Some were asleep and woke to gunfire, not prologued police announcements.
This is consistent with interviews The Times conducted and calls into question the assertion of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron who said police did knock and announce. For more on this watch The NYT Presents episode The Killing of Breonna Taylor. https://www.hulu.com/series/the-new-york-times-presents-f22278d1-ef56-40e8-9227-af3a029ca6f4
We examined the autopsy reports and photos of Breonna Taylor. They were, of course, disturbing and heartbreaking. And the ballistics analysis in LMPD reports, evidence bags and the FBI reports.
Each used different item codes for handguns and bullets. By cataloguing them and connecting the dots, we could determine that Detective Cosgrove - who continued shooting until his magazine emptied - shot Breonna Taylor three times.
He shot Taylor in her left abdomen and her upper chest. Two other bullets - one Cosgrove’s and one Mattingly’s - entered and exited her left arm and leg and penetrated the wall directly behind.
Two of the entry and exit wounds hit the wall no higher than 1.5 ft above the floor, suggesting Taylor was shot as she was falling. Two bullets hit her right foot.
We would later compare this with an FBI report (released recently) and adjust details that were not visible in crime scene photos or videos, like bullets recovered beneath carpets. @singhvianjali ultimately produced a model and trajectories more complete than even the FBI report
We counted 38 police/SWAT vehicles responding after the shooting. They *did* wear body cameras; we watched many hours of that footage. What stood out was the chaos, how SWAT was shocked the raid happened and the manner in which it did. Vice, ABC have shown more of those scenes.
And later @babimarcolini pored over grand jury proceedings, which resulted in charges against Brett Hankison for shooting into the neighbors’ home and no charges against the officers who killed Taylor.
Three of those grand jurors have since come forward to say they felt impeded from conducting their civic duty because Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron precluded them from assessing charges against the two officers who, it was found, had shot Taylor. https://soundcloud.com/wfplnews/breonna-taylor-grand-jurors-on-living-with-the-outcome
This story is possible b/c of tireless work by @singhvianjali, who modeled Taylor’s apartment and the trajectories of the gunshots by her boyfriend & the police, @NatalieReneau who edited the video, @DrewJordan_NYT’s GFX treatment & @babimarcolini. We produced the piece together.
Cinematography in Louisville by @erikljungfilm (stills ). Additional production, editing and editorial support by @poorpotatoface, @dim109, @sjalfano, Dave Horn, @TroyEricG, @markscheffler, @ndgauss and @mattbpurdy.
). Additional production, editing and editorial support by @poorpotatoface, @dim109, @sjalfano, Dave Horn, @TroyEricG, @markscheffler, @ndgauss and @mattbpurdy.
A word on our other coverage of Louisville police. We reported when their aggression turned fatal (killing David McAtee - https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007175316/the-david-mcatee-shooting-did-aggressive-policing-lead-to-a-fatal-outcome.html) and likewise when they were fired upon (we retraced the shooter's steps - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/video/louisville-protest-gunman.html)
Our reconstruction is not a comprehensive examination of all aspects of this case. There's much more to Breonna Taylor's story which you can read at @nytimes ( https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html) and by @TessaDuvall @dctello at @courierjournal, & @robferdman of Vice https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/breonna-taylor/2020/09/12/breonna-taylor-shooting-timeline-details-180-days-since-her-death/3394405001/
Additional thanks to @rcallimachi and @LoraMoftah, who were deeply sourced and helpful to us in Louisville, and the security team under @colsecproject. Do read Rukmini's comprehensive telling of this story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-police-killing.html
Our team has produced more than a dozen stories in 2020 on policing in America and issues of race. You can see them in our collection on the Visual Investigations homepage https://www.nytimes.com/visual-investigations
