SHEFFIELD, Ohio (WOIO) – The former Lorain police officer who shot and killed a 3-year-old lab mix named Dixie in front of her family was hired in Sheffield Lake.
Despite a community outcry, the Sheffield Lake mayor said, “don’t let public opinion keep us from hiring someone who’s more than qualified for this position.”
THE FATAL SHOOTING
The incident involving Ptlm. Elliot Palmer happened on July 2, 2023.
Dixie’s owner, Mellenie Kerns, previously told 19 News that her and Tammie Kerns’ four dogs were already on edge that day due to the constant crackling and popping of Fourth of July fireworks going off all weekend long.
The dogs accidentally ran outside of their Lorain home on Oberlin Avenue amidst the chaos, Kerns explained.
Kerns said she noticed the Lorain officer pull up around 1:45 p.m.
“I thought, ‘hey this man’s gonna help us stop traffic so if any of our dogs do happen to run in the street, he was gonna stop it.’ That’s what most cops do,” Mellenie shared.
But that was not what happened.
Mellenie said she got a hold of two of the dogs, including Dixie, when the officer started yelling.
“Dixie is not used to screaming when she’s around people. They all want to play with her, or let her lick them, or be lovable as labs do… and Dixie took off not towards the officer mind you. She was six feet away from him, running that way. He was nowhere near her, and she was no way near him or charging him as he claimed later on. She charged to go across the street,” Mellenie described. “When he fired on her, she was in the middle of the street on the yellow lines.”
Mellenie said the first bullet struck Dixie in her spine.
“She dropped to the ground with a yelp,” recalled Mellenie. “A car almost hit her and she had to pull herself back across the street so she would not get hit. She could not move either of her back legs. That was enough at that point. He could’ve stopped. He unloaded three more bullets into her in the driveway. There was children out and these bullets could’ve went through my dog and ricocheted. They could’ve missed my dog and ricocheted and hit a child, a little kid.”
The family said the worst part was that they were not even allowed to comfort their dying dog.
“The bad thing about it is they wouldn’t let us touch the dog until they took pictures and did their little thing they had to do… and by that time she was already dead,” Tammie stated.
“He didn’t care and then when he finally unloaded that last shot, he still had his gun out, but it was down,” Mellenie stated. “He turned to look at us again and told my mom to go. I thought my mom was gonna get shot when he walked up to her and started pushing her away.”
[ Lorain family’s pet dog shot and killed by police officer ]
CALLS FOR JUSTICE
Mellenie and Tammie Kerns said Dixie was not only “one of the most lovable dogs ever possible,” but never showed aggression or had any biting incidents.
“I just want justice for my dog,” Mellenie told 19 News after the shooting. “I want this man off the street. I want his firearm removed. I want him in jail for as long as physically possible. This was uncalled for.”
The family claimed the police department encouraged them to cremate Dixie right away.
“They had the gall to tell us to cremate her knowing there was going to be an investigation,” the Kerns explained. “They told us where to cremate her said they would willingly take her to cremate if we followed and paid for it. We didn’t even get any notification she would be needed for an autopsy until after she was already in the fire.”
The shooting sparked a public outcry and made national headlines.
A community protest outside the Lorain Police Department soon after the shooting prompted Ofc. Palmer to be placed on administrative leave.
Those who organized the protest said they believed the officer should be brought up on felony animal cruelty charges.
[ Lorain officer who fatally shot dog placed on leave following community protest ]
THE INVESTIGATION
The days after the shooting, the Lorain Police Department released the bodycam footage of the officer using force on the dog “in order for the Department to be fully transparent about the incident,” then Acting Chief of Police Capt. Michael Failing stated.
[ Lorain Police release bodycam of family’s pet dog shot and killed by officer ]
Capt. Failing also said the case was thoroughly investigated by their department’s Office of Professional Standards as Chief McCann worked with several outside expert consultants who assisted and reviewed the facts of the case.
OPS reviewed witness interviews, expert analysis, and bodycam footage.
The internal investigation by the LPD Office of Professional Standards into the shooting found Palmer within his rights to shoot the dog, and called the incident “objectively reasonable.”
“We hear the public outcry, we listen to it, but we never change our mission and our job of investigating our officers based on the outcry,” said Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann on the results of the investigation.
Chief McCann spent more than an hour going over the investigation.
The report noted several aggressive characteristics the dog showed in the footage, which the chief went over in real-time and slow motion, breaking down frame by frame.
“He was immediately approached by a large light-colored dog, which we named dog one here, and after dog one trotted off, a second tan dog, dog two, broke free from a female,” stated McCann.
McCann added the officer was bitten by another dog on duty in April 2023 and had to have surgery, and came close to losing the hand due to infection.
As for the dog’s owners, the Kern family, who called for the investigation and accused Palmer of acting recklessly,
The chief claimed the department made attempts to reach out to the Kerns by official mail, but did not receive a response.
The dog’s owners were not a part of any of the investigation.
McCann said Palmer remained on modified duty until he determined when he could return to regular duty.
Palmer did not activate his bodycam immediately when he left his car, and the chief noted at the time of the investigation that he would have to decide what disciplinary action is required.
McCann said the department purchased bit-resistant gloves and placed them in supervisor patrol cars as a result of the shooting.
Dixie’s owners will also not be charged for not having her on a leash.
Will Kerns declined to comment at the time, but shared that he believed an outside agency should have handled the investigation.
Dixie’s owners were not charged for not having her on a leash.
[ Lorain police finish Investigation into fatal shooting of family’s pet dog ]
NEW DEPARTMENT ONE YEAR LATER
The Sheffield Lake City Council held a Special Meeting on Aug. 6 to discuss the appointment of Elliot Palmer as a full-time officer of the Sheffield Police Department.
Sheffield Lake Mayor Rocky Radeff’s response to the public outcry in the meeting was “don’t let public opinion keep us from hiring someone who’s more than qualified for this position.”
The statement came after the mayor said he knows Elliot Palmer and his father “personally,” and that Palmer is a Sheffield Lake resident.
19 News requested the following statement from Mayor Radeff regarding the decision to hire Palmer, his response to the community outcry, and nature of his relationship to the officer:
Palmer was also endorsed by City of Sheffield Lake Chief of Police Andrew Kory and SLPD Ofc. Watkins in the meeting.
19 News has yet to receive a statement from Chief Kory at the time of publishing.
Two of the seven council members voted against the hiring of Palmer in the meeting.
Ofc. Elliot S. Palmer was then sworn in during the meeting.
Click here to view the City of Sheffield Lake Special Meeting.
Copyright 2024 WOIO. All rights reserved.
