The city of Louisville, Kentucky, the U.S., announced on Friday that it was taking the first step to fire one of three officers who violated protocols during the shooting of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman to death.

Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed on March 13 after Detective Brett Hankison and two other police officers mistakenly entered her apartment with a "no-knock" arrest warrant and shot her eight times in a drug investigation.

The two other officers remain on administrative leave.

"Your actions displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life when you wantonly and blindly fired ten (10) rounds into the apartment of Breonna Taylor," in a letter from interim chief Robert Schroeder to Hankison posted on Twitter. "I find your conduct a shock to the conscience."

The letter also said Hankison would have the opportunity, with counsel or a union representative, to provide "additional information or mitigating factors" before his termination was finalized.

Taylor's death, along with the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, as well as other police killings of African Americans, has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement and has sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.

Hours after the March 13 raid, Louisville police Lieutenant Ted Eiden said the officers had knocked on the door before forcing entry and were shot at by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. One officer was struck in the leg and all three returned fire, hitting Taylor at least eight times, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

However, there is no body camera footage of the incident, the police department's Public Integrity Unit said in a March 13 news conference.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer released a statement Tuesday regarding the incident, calling for justice and truth.

"Police work can involve incredibly difficult situations," he said. "Additionally, residents have rights. These two concepts will and must be weighed by our justice system as the case proceeds."

(With input from agencies)