When Massey and other SWAT team members arrived at Taylor’s apartment complex, they were met with what Massey described as a “chaotic scene.” There were multiple reports of automatic gunfire, and officers kept saying that someone inside the apartment had a rifle. All of this led him to believe the sliding glass doors were riddled with bullets that were shot from inside.
It wasn’t until minutes later, he said, that he realized the rounds had actually come from outside, and were all fired by police. At one point, now-former LMPD detective Brett Hankison gestured to the shot-out windows, and tapped his chest — '“almost to say, ‘yeah that was me,’” Massey told investigators. Hankison is one of three officers who LMPD says fired their weapons that night. He was fired in July, and is appealing his termination.
Massey also makes it clear that involved officers were roaming freely on scene after the incident, despite LMPD’s explicit policy that they be separated and paired with a peer support officer. He specifically recalls seeing Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired 16 rounds that night according to LMPD, walking around the scene with a rifle.
“While we’re on scene, we learned that Cosgrove’s involved in it. Like, I had no idea he was part of it,” Massey said.
Later, he added “I do remember saying, ‘Hey, separate him. He’s involved.’ He was way too up in the mix.”
Even after Massey raised concerns about Cosgrove’s presence on scene, Massey says he still was not removed.
Another SWAT officer, Sgt. Brandon Hogan, also saw Cosgrove walking around. While SWAT was inside the apartment, Hankison stepped inside and began asking questions about the scene. “This is a crime scene,” Hogan tells him, as another SWAT officer tells Hankison to get out. This is confirmed by body camera footage, which was also obtained by VICE News.
Hogan recalls being surprised to learn later that Hankison was involved in the shooting.
“From my experience with my officer-involved, I was immediately assigned an escort officer,” Hogan said. “They took me into my car and told me, “Hey, just chill out, don’t say nothing.’” In their own interviews with investigators, Hankison and Cosgrove confirm they were not separated from the scene.
SWAT Sergeant Joel Casse, who also helped clear the apartment, expressed similar concerns.
“You know something that came up that I wasn’t necessarily happy with myself and it — it might end up coming up later in the investigation of, while we were in there controlling the scene, there was officers that were trying to come into the scene and Sergeant Hogan was trying to keep them back out,” Casse told investigators on March 20.
But interviews with SWAT members show they had concerns with more than just what they observed in the aftermath of the raid. SWAT wasn’t even aware of the raid on Taylor’s apartment until they were radioed to provide backup for an officer-involved shooting at her address.