tonight, the fatal police shooting of breonna taylor. now, for the first time, one of the officers, sergeant john mattingly, breaking his silence. >> i remember banging on the door, open hand, hard smacks. bam bam bam bam. >> michael strahan with the abc news courier journal exclusive. >> when you were firing your shot, what was your intent? >> inside what he says happened that night. >> as soon as i turned the corner, my eyes went straight to the barrel of his gun. >> on the other side, breonna's boyfriend with a different take. >> it was a hail of gunfire. whoever shot her is responsible for her death. >> plus how it took the death of george floyd for the world to say her name. >> say her name, breonna taylor! >> why mattingly thinks the cases are not the same. >> this is not relatable to george floyd.

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one from her boyfriend, the other from one of the officers involved. sergeant mattingly sitting down in this abc news courier journal exclusive, shedding new light on that fateful night now at the center of so many conversations about race and policing. here now "gma" coanchor michael strahan. >> i wish we'd done it different for the simple fact that you don't want anybody's life to be lost. i mean, you don't want that. nobody wants anybody to have to be buried because of you. >> reporter: it was a volley of shots in a dark hallway that would take breonna taylor's life and reignite calls for racial justice around the country. >> say her name, breonna taylor! >> reporter: for the first time, sergeant jonathan mattingly, one of the officers inside that louisville apartment, sharing his account of what happened that night. >> i feel for her. i hurt for her mother, for her

sisters. it's -- it's not a -- it's not just the passing, oh, this is part of the job, we did it, move on. it's not like that. breonna taylor is now attached to me for the rest of my life. that's not again, woe is me. that's me feeling for them. >> now, i'm kind of taken aback, because that's the first time i think i've heard that or anyone had heard you say anything about her mother and what they have to go through. >> we've had a gag order on us for seven months. we've not been allowed to talk. i would love to have talked months ago. >> reporter: her name, her story, a rallying cry amidst the summer of unrest. >> say her name. >> breonna taylor! >> reporter: even amid nationwide calls for action, details of the night she died have remained in question. tonight, two accounts from each side of the door, both conducted in spaces to allow for social

distancing. a violent encounter that ended in tragedy and helped inspire a movement. >> say her name! >> breonna taylor! >> reporter: it was a quiet friday night. taylor, a 26-year-old aspiring nurse, was spending the evening in her louisville home with her boyfriend, kenneth walker. >> it was a normal day. we went out to eat. just chilling, playing uno, you know. watching a movie. you know, didn't last that long, didn't even get to finish. then she was falling asleep and so was i. >> reporter: at the same time, louisville officers serving multiple search warrants in connection with a suspected drug ring. authorities say they believe an acquaintance, glover was storing drugs at her apartment.

>> when you went to the apartment did you expect breonna to be by herself? >> i did, expected breonna to be by herself. they said they weren't sure about children and dogs. banging on the door, hoping she'd come to the door so everything was quiet, neighbors didn't come out. >> could you hear anything from inside the apartment this. >> not at that point. after the first bang, nothing happened. banged again. started yelling. i did. nobody else yelled. yelled police, search warrant. police, search warrant. >> how many times? >> three times, with each bang. there was a total of six bangs, six different knocks at the door. >> reporter: there were seven officers on the scene that night. mattingly claimed that one officer said he thought he heard movement inside the apartment. >> he said, stop, i can hear somebody coming up to the door. we stopped, we listened. nobody says anything. we yell again, police search warrant, open the door if you're there. i look back at my lunt are lieutenant, he says, go ahead, hit it. >> reporter: they were initially there to execute a no-knock

warrant. some time before it had been verbally changed to knock and announce. >> even on no-knock warrants you announce. because we don't want to get shot either. >> kind of dozing off. breonna screamed out, who is it? it was her apartment. there was another loud bang. she's still saying, who is it the whole time? i'm saying, who is it now? because nobody's answering. it's too late for anybody to be knocking on the door. i grab my gun. then we proceed to go answer the door. when we get right in the doorway of the bedroom, the door flies open. >> i could see the living room to my right. i could see the tan couches, living room, door. i couldn't see down the hall. >> any lights on? >> no, just the tv. we have lights on guns. at this point, we're yelling, police search warrant. step in the door frame to clear the hallway. i can see two figures. >> how far away? >> 20, 25 feet. my eyes went straight to the barrel of this gun. i could see the tip of it. my eyes focused in on it. >> protect breonna, protect myself, that's what was going

through my head. let out one shot at the ground. figuring it's intruders or somebody trying to break in, harm us. they felt the need to kick the door so they were pretty serious. >> everything happened in a matter of seconds. boom. the sound, the feel in my leg, it was just instant. as soon as i felt the smack on my leg and the heat, boom boom boom, returned shots, four shots. >> when you were firing your shots, what was your intent? >> stop the threat, whatever that was. >> protect yourself? >> yes, yeah. i wanted to get home to my family. >> reporter: walker, a legal gun owner, fired one shot. three officers returned fire. >> there were 30 shots in return. so was that usual protocol, from one shot, to just -- 30 shots? a lot of people would look and say, man that seems a little bit excessive. >> it does seem like a lot. let's get one thing straight, he wasn't shooting at ground, warning shot. he was in a stretched-out, two-hand -- >> what do you mean, stretched out? >> pushed out, two hands, looking straight at me. i saw his gun, our postures were

the same, looking at each other, firing that shot. >> reporter: walker and his attorneys dispute that account. >> it was just a hail of gunfire. i grabbed breonna, i dropped to the ground. i was holding her hand while we went down. then just gunshots for however long. they was coming from every direction. >> i reached down, felt my leg. i could feel a handful of blood and heat. that's my femoral artery. >> reporter: a ballistics report said it was walker's bullet that struck mattingly but walker disputes this. >> what's going through your mind? >> i've got to get a turn cut on it or i'm going to die. >> reporter: with a turn cut applied, mattingly was loaded into an ambulance. but in the apartment, walker tried to get help for breonna, who was shot and bleeding. >> i grabbed my phone, you know. i'm still right there with breonna, holding her. at this point, now i got to do something. i have to call somebody or do something, because i can't do anything just holding her. i call my mother. then she told me to call 911.

>> 911, operator harris, where is your emergency? >> i don't know what's happening, somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend. >> is she alert and able to talk to you? >> no, she's not. bre? >> there's no reason at all, to my knowledge, that the police should have been at breonna taylor's apartment. >> reporter: minutes after that call, walker comes outside with his hands up. captured on body camera footage from officers responding to the shooting. >> walk now! walk! put your hands in the air, get down on your knees! >> what did i do? what did i do? >> who else is in the apartment? >> nobody, my girlfriend's dead. >> your girlfriend's dead? >> my girlfriend, it's her house. >> now i'm confused, trying to

figure out why guns is pointed at me. i'm thinking they're there to help me, but really, they were the ones who just hurt me. >> the gun's legal. >> you know, shocked, hurt, in pain, whatever you could think of. >> watch out. >> reporter: squad officers head inside, clearing the home, finding taylor's body in the hallway. >> check the pulse. ma'am, can you hear us? metro police department. check the wrist. >> reporter: walker was arrested and later charged with attempted murder of a police officer. those charges were later dropped. >> i'm in the back of the police car. every time they try to talk to me, that's all i'm asking them, is she okay? like, what's going on with her? nobody was telling me anything. nobody seemed to be concerned about her but me. >> reporter: during the execution of the warrant, only one officer was wearing a body

camera. but it wasn't turned on because mattingly said it wasn't police procedure in these types of situations. >> do you believe, if you had body cameras, this wouldn't have happened? >> no. the incident would still happen. but it would have been shown on camera what happened. this wouldn't be an issue. this wouldn't be a case. you'd never hear about it. >> how would you have done it differently if you could have? >> we would have either served the no knock warrant or done the normal thing we do, five to ten seconds. to not give people time to formulate a plan, not give people time to get their senses so they have an idea of what they're doing. if that had happened, i'm telling you, mike, if that had happened, breonna taylor would be alive. >> you believe she'd be alive if you had just stormed in? >> yes. >> not given them time? >> i do. >> reporter: mattingly in part put the blame on walker. >> the scenario, the way it was set up, the scene, the impossible situation that kenneth walker put her in in

that hallway with this narrow hallway, shooting from it, him diving out, i'm assuming she was trying to follow him into the room -- i don't know that for sure, but that's what makes sense -- he put her in a impossible situation. >> do you feel kenneth walker is responsible for her death? >> i think there's a few people responsible. i think he is. >> kenneth walker says he is a protector. >> your actions are sometimes still to blame whether you did it intentionally or not. >> reporter: but to walker, the blame lies with the officers who fired inside that hallway. >> his words are incredible. so anything he says is irrelevant. whoever shot her is responsible for her death. whoever allowed them to come there and do that, they're responsible. when we come back, how the death of george floyd would inspire calls for justice for breonna taylor. >> say her name!

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for months, most of the country did not even know the name debris onthat taylor. >> breonna taylor! >> say her name. >> breonna taylor! >> reporter: but george floyd's death sparked nationwide calls for racial justice. the spotlight moving to overlooked or forgotten cases like hers. >> breonna taylor! >> there have been marches, protests, a lot of them

demanding for you and other officers to be arrested and charged. what were your feelings watching that unfold? >> mostly frustration. frustration came from our command and from the mayor's office. because there was so much disinformation out. because there is not relatable to george floyd. this is nothing like it. it's nothing like it. these are two totally different type incidents. it's not a race thing like people want to make it to be. it's not. this is a point where we're doing our job. this is not kneeling on a neck. this is nothing like that. >> reporter: as pressure mounted, a grand jury was called to see whether sergeant jonathan mattingly and two other officers would face charges. the night before the decision, mattingly sent an email to his colleagues writing, quote, i know we did the legal, moral, and ethical thing that night. it's sad how the good guys are demonized and criminals are canonized. >> who are the good guys and who are the criminals that you're talking about? >> you look at george floyd. what happened to him is tragic.

it was horrible. everybody looked at that and said, wrong, bad, disgusting. and what happens? they end up getting locked up, which in my opinion, and i don't know the ins and outs of the case, but in my opinion, that was the right call, whether he died of an overdose or whatever. but what happened after that, in my opinion, george floyd was not a model citizen. >> it's very hard for me to sit here, hearing george floyd died of an overdose. he died because a man was kneeling on his neck for nine minutes. >> i agree with that. >> in regards to him being a model citizen, nobody deserved that. >> i said it's horrible. >> reporter: in the breonna taylor, officer hang kin son charged with endangering neighbors when he opened fire but not in connection with taylor's death. he's pled not guilty. one juror saying they didn't hear evidence with regard to other officers involved. >> what went through your head,

you were not indicted? >> my wife cried. i was just -- oh my goodness, you know. this part's over. >> i heard about the grand jury decision shortly after ruling. i kind of figured -- it would end up like that, probably. just because that's the way things go. it's the police. >> i'm not going to sit here and act like -- playing the big victim card, but i mean, i was a victim in this as well. my family has been a victim in this. they have had to go in hiding. they have had death threats. i've got a little kid that has been affected by this. so it's not just -- when somebody sits back and accuses somebody they don't know of being a racist and being a dirty cop, being a murderer, when that's not the case, that does affect you. >> you were called racist. >> uh-huh. >> are you racist?

>> no, not at all. i grew up in the urban area of louisville. i didn't understand the racial injustices as a kid because my friends are black. it didn't click to me that there was this visceral hate out there. i didn't know it. so when somebody calls me a racist, i do take it offensive. >> do you think there's a racist divide between the community and louisville pd? >> i think there are people who stir things up and make it more that. because when you're dealing with criminal element, you talk about racial profiling, good police, anyway, police i worked with, don't racial profile. you criminal profile. let's address the fact that just because you're black, you're a threat. it's not the case. i'm not scared -- >> that's how black men feel. that's how black women feel. >> does that make it real? >> if it's how you feel, then it's real. >> no, not necessarily. >> reporter: and it's not just a feeling. statistics show that in louisville, black drivers were stopped more often.

and three times as likely to be searched than their white counterparts. echoing nationwide trends. in the months since taylor's death, some change has happened. breonna's law was passed in her hometown of louisville, banning no-knock warrants. and the city awarded her family a $12 million settlement on a wrongful death lawsuit without admitting fault. but for those who love breonna taylor that night in march stole something they could never get back. >> it changed my life and my family's life forever. i can never have a normal life. this is not normal. >> i would say i want justice for breonna, but there's no justice for breonna, besides breonna being right here. because the pain you're feeling could be a sign of irreversible joint damage.

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♪ be sure to tune in for complete coverage of the final presidential debate tomorrow night starting at 8:00/7:00 central here on abc. that's "nightline" for tonight. see you back here at the same time. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.