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Hometown police officer fired after shooting dog

Posted July 29, 2014 1:01 am

Associate Press

HOMETOWN - A Hometown police officer was fired after shooting to death a family dog.

Nicole Echlina says her 6-year-old daughter saw the shooting of their dog, Apollo, by the Hometown police officer

The owners of the 14-month-old, German shepherd mix called police for help after he ran off. Authorities say police officers found the dog and tried to coax him to go inside. They say that is when the dog growled and approached the officer, prompting the officer to shoot.

In a statement released on the department's Facebook page, Hometown Police Chief Charles Forsyth said the officer may have been justified under state law governing deadly force, but he decided to fire the officer. Forsyth said reports and witness statements will be forwarded to the Illinois State Police for review.

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