Ohio residents demand justice after police officer kills family dog

Residents of a small Ohio town held a rally on Friday demanding that the police officer who shot and killed a family dog be held responsible.

Citizens of Lorain, Ohio, have been speaking out following the incident, which occurred last week and began gaining social media traction following the release of police bodycam footage this past Wednesday. The incident began, owner Mellenie Kerns told WEWS-TV Cleveland, when her four Labrador retrievers ran out the front door of her house as she was leaving to run an errand.

Kerns said a police officer pulled over as she was attempting to round her dogs up, adding, "It wasn't a call. No one waved him down. I thought, 'Hey, this man's going to help us stop traffic if any of our dogs do happen to run in the street.'"

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Instead, the bodycam footage shows the officer in question, Elliot Palmer, shooting one of the dogs, a three-year-old yellow lab named Dixie, as she ran up to him. Kerns said that the shot paralyzed Dixie in her hind legs, at which point Palmer can be seen firing at least three more shots. Dixie died on the sidewalk shortly after, Kerns said.

WEWS-TV noted that Palmer's incident report described Dixie as having charged at him. However, Kerns has claimed Dixie was harmless and that people "all want to play with her or let her lick them and be loveable, as labs want to do." The bodycam footage also shows another dog walking up to Palmer prior to Dixie, as he puts his hand up but does not appear to take any action.

As Lorain residents demanded justice, the Lorain Police Department released a statement saying an investigation was underway and they were "moving quickly to gather the facts." The bodycam footage, which is graphic, can be seen below: