LORAIN, Ohio — Community members held a “Justice for Dixie” rally Friday morning to protest the shooting and killing by a Lorain Police officer of a family’s Labrador retriever.
The rally, organized by a self-identified “concerned citizen,” was held to show support for the family of Dixie, the dog that was shot and killed, and to call for the removal of the officer who shot her from the Lorain Police Department.
Nadine Smith, who did not know Dixie or her family but saw the police body camera footage, said she was sickened by the incident.
"I came in here crying today," she said. "I don't want him [the officer] to lose his job, but we need some type of justice for Dixie."
Dixie's family, on the other hand, believes justice for their beloved dog would be to have the officer removed from his position.
"He has poor training behind the weapon, poor training behind the badge if he was so quick to draw on a dog like that," said Brittany Kasperick, the daughter of Dixie's owner. "He used excessive force, and that is what angers me. There’s other ways he could’ve de-escalated the situation. He could've used his taser, his mace."
You can watch the protest in the player below:
Tammie and Mellenie Kerns told News 5 the family’s four labrador retrievers ran out the front door of their Oberlin Avenue house when the mother and daughter were trying to leave for an errand shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday. As they attempted to round the dogs up and bring them back inside, they said Lorain Police Officer Elliot Palmer pulled over.
She said her 3-year-old yellow lab, Dixie, who had been on edge from the fireworks the previous evening, was startled and ran into the street when the officer exited his cruiser.
“I thought I was going to get shot when he yelled, ‘Stop.’ And when he fired that first shot at Dixie, I dropped to hold my other dog, Beethoven. I thought I was going to lose all of it because of a trigger-happy cop,” Mellenie Kerns said.
She told News 5 the first gunshot hit the dog in her lower back and appeared to paralyze her hind legs before the officer fired two more shots.
Since then, an online petition calling for the removal of the officer has accrued nearly 15,000 signatures.
In a release from the Lorain Police Department, the police chief said the department’s Office of Professional Standards was investigating the use of force. He also said he was working with several outside expert consultants to review the case.
Lorain Police Lt. Jacob Morris spoke with the crowd of protesters on Friday afternoon.
"It’s great to see the concern from the community. It doesn’t have to be flattering, but it tells us exactly what concerns our community," said Morris. "I want to offer our condolences to the Kerns family; regardless of the situation, they're dealing with the loss of a family member, and it hurts to even say that we were involved in that."
The crowd and Morris engaged in a conversation about how the situation could've been avoided and what police can learn from the incident.
"I know there is outrage, hurt, anger, but all of this makes a difference. We hope that it can make us better in the long run," he said. "This is about Dixie, but it certainly does open some doors up of conversations that need to be had."
The Kerns family echoed his sentiment asking for people to be peaceful and hoping that it can lead to change within the police department.
Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley told News 5 that Palmer is working desk duty while the internal investigation is ongoing. He said he will reserve his comments until the investigation concludes. He added that while the situation is emotional, people should not seek out vigilante justice, that it will not be tolerated in Lorain.
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