A petition with more than 28,000 signatures continues to circulate calling for justice in a seemingly senseless killing of a family’s three-year-old Labrador and golden retriever mix, whose only crime was accidentally running out the front door of her home. The dog, Dixie, was shot multiple times and killed by Elliott Palmer, a police officer with the Lorain Police Department last Sunday.
The heartbroken family is outraged by the incident when the dogs’ owners Tammie and Mellenie Kerns ran outside the front door to round up their four dogs who had escaped out the front door while the mother and daughter had been preparing to leave for an errand.
As the women called out to the dogs to get them back inside, a Lorain police officer pulled up, and the women were at first thankful, thinking the officer would direct traffic until the dogs were all safely secured.
Dixie had been fidgety since the fireworks the previous evening and had run into the street. At that time the officer pulled over and called for the dog who did not respond. Mellenie had already been able to corral two of the dogs including Dixie when the officer started to yell.
The women asked the officer not to yell, since all of the dogs had been on edge from the holiday weekend. Instead the officer yelled towards Dixie, and because she obviously got nervous, took off the other way. The officer claimed the dog was charging towards him; the owners disagreed.
When he fired at her she was in the middle of the street on the yellow line.
Mellanie
The first bullet hit Dixie in the spine, and she fell to the ground with a yelp. As the dog tried to crawl back to her home, the officer shot her three more times. And the family was not permitted to go over and comfort their dog in her dying last moments.
The case is still under investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Standards. The department has not commented.
Palmer has since been placed on desk duty, but a petition demanding his removal from the force has gained more than 28,000 signatures with words of support coming in from all over the world.
Community members held a “Justice for Dixie” rally Friday morning to protest the shooting and killing.
Check out the officer’s webcam here:
Read the original coverage here.
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Now I know why I’m not seeing to many people post any more you disregard and not post their reply. And they do not like the new format.
I’m not sure what you mean here? Unless it’s spam, trash, terribly profane, all comments are posted. I don’t always sit online to approve messages moment by moment, but as often as I can. Let me know what message didn’t get posted. Thanks