LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former high-ranking Louisville Metro Police Department official told the Police Merit Board Wednesday that she believes Detective Myles Cosgrove’s termination after shooting Breonna Taylor was motivated by politics.

The seven-member board is expected to decide Wednesday if Cosgrove — fired in January by former interim Chief Yvette Gentry for failing to “properly identify a target” when he shot 16 times into Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020 — can return to the department or if his termination will be upheld.

“In your time with the department, can you remember anybody being fired for political reasons?” Sgt. Justin Witt, an officer representative on the Merit Board, asked retired Deputy Chief LaVita Chavous, a witness for Cosgrove.

“Not that I can remember,” Chavous replied.

“Do you think that this one was because of political reasons?” Witt asked.

“Yes, I do,” Chavous said without hesitation.

Chavous testified she’d heard Mayor Greg Fischer say last summer that he wished he could fire the officers connected to the Taylor case.

Chavous said she took this to mean Cosgrove as well as Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison and Detective Joshua Jaynes, though Fischer did not name them specifically.

Ultimately, Cosgrove, Jaynes and Hankison were fired; the first two by Gentry, the latter by former interim Chief Robert Schroeder. Chavous said she did not believe Cosgrove should have been fired.

Chavous also testified to Fischer’s remarks — which the mayor denied — during Jaynes’ Merit Board hearing this summer. The board unanimously upheld Jaynes’ firing in a 4-0 vote.

Witt also asked if she believed Gentry was brought in as interim chief after Schroeder to fire those officers.

“I think it was one of the reasons, yes,” she said.

Cosgrove’s hearing began more than a month ago, on Nov. 9-10, with the city making the case as to why Cosgrove’s firing should be upheld.

It resumed Tuesday with Cosgrove’s team making the case for his reinstatement, which has focused heavily on calling in witnesses to testify to the physiological stress of shootings.

Cosgrove also testified before the board, saying he is “regretful” that Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, died. But, he said, he believes he acted appropriately and did what most officers would have done in his situation.

Cosgrove, Mattingly and Hankison fired a combined 32 rounds into Taylor’s apartment. Of those, six rounds fired by Cosgrove and Mattingly struck Taylor. The FBI concluded Cosgrove fired the fatal shot.

John Jawor, a former LMPD officer and firearms trainer, testified he believes Cosgrove had sufficient target identification when he fired into Taylor’s apartment.

Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, fired one shot from his handgun after officers used a battering ram to force open the front door; he was not struck by officers’ gunfire.

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Jawor testified that shooting at a range is static, but in a “gun battle” things are fluid. It’s not uncommon for officers to not know how many rounds they fired or were fired at them, he said.

“You’re so focused on the task at hand, which is surviving and winning the gunfight, that counting the rounds is just something that is usually not on the top of your list,” Jawor said.

This story will be updated.

Reach Tessa Duvall at [email protected] and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall.