Former Louisville police officer Myles Cosgrove, known for his involvement in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020, is facing allegations of misconduct in his current role as a sheriff’s deputy in Carroll County, Kentucky. The recent incident involves Cosgrove reportedly ramming a truck with his police cruiser and brandishing a firearm at the vehicle’s owner and bystanders, according to reports from The Courier Journal.
Witnesses at the scene claim that Cosgrove entered the Happy Hallow Private Resort Park trailer park without activating his emergency lights and proceeded to collide with a pickup truck belonging to William Joshua Short. The impact was described as forceful, propelling the truck into a building and causing damage to both the vehicle and the structure, as observed by individuals present during the incident.
Carroll County Sheriff Ryan Gosser, however, refuted these allegations via email to The Courier Journal. He maintained that evidence indicated Cosgrove was not traveling at high speed within the trailer park and that he had activated his blue lights. Sheriff Gosser further asserted that Short, the owner of the truck, was driving recklessly around the Happy Hallow building and the collision occurred when Short turned in front of Cosgrove.
While Sheriff Gosser did not dispute that Cosgrove drew his firearm in the altercation, he asserted that it was in response to perceived threats. He stated that several individuals approached Cosgrove, making verbal threats and menacing gestures. This purportedly prompted Cosgrove to draw his weapon. Sheriff Gosser defended Cosgrove’s overall performance as a deputy, describing him as a “good deputy” who had represented the office professionally.
Subsequently, three individuals, including Short, were arrested in connection with the incident. Short faced charges of endangerment of a police officer, criminal mischief, and fleeing from the police, while two female occupants of the truck were charged with disorderly conduct. Notably, eyewitnesses claimed that Short made no effort to flee and asserted that Cosgrove initiated the confrontation by forcefully colliding with Short’s vehicle.
A female passenger in Short’s truck expressed fear and apprehension when Cosgrove pointed his firearm at her and others, according to The Courier Journal.
The sequence of events leading to the incident began when a truck driver reported the sighting of a previously stolen trailer being towed by a silver or blue pickup truck. Concurrently, a female passenger in Short’s vehicle called 911 to report that a man had been following them while brandishing a handgun and firing shots. The reported events unfolded while all parties involved resided in the same trailer park.
The truck driver in question asserted that he had been holding a cellphone, not a firearm, and had followed Short’s vehicle to their shared residence. In contrast, Short’s passengers contended that Short had been in the process of parking his truck to engage with the police when Cosgrove initiated the collision.
Myles Cosgrove had previously come under scrutiny for his involvement in the Breonna Taylor case. During the raid, he and another officer, Jonathan Mattingly, discharged their firearms into Taylor’s hallway following a single shot fired by Taylor’s boyfriend, who believed that intruders were entering their home. Cosgrove was dismissed from the Louisville police force for violating use of force policies, having fired 16 rounds during the incident without identifying a specific target. He and Mattingly were not indicted on any charges by a state grand jury in 2020, and an FBI investigation later cleared them of any criminal wrongdoing.
Despite this history, Cosgrove was subsequently hired as a sheriff’s deputy in Carroll County, citing his lack of criminal charges in the Taylor case and his character as reasons for his employment.
