A police officer accused of bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range has been fired, according to several reports.
Sgt. Ron King, a two-year veteran of the force of about 35 sworn officers, offered the target of a hoodie-wearing Trayvon at the range near Cocoa on April 4, Rosalind Harvey, a port spokeswoman told WFTV on Saturday.
King led firearms classes at the range, Harvey said. Meanwhile, Port Canaveral Interim Chief Executive Officer John Walsh apologized publicly to Trayvon's family Saturday for the ordeal they have gone through and described King's behavior unacceptable, insensitive and unprofessional. King had worked for Port Canaveral police since January 2011.
"It is absolutely reprehensible that a high-ranking member of the Port Canaveral Police, sworn to protect and serve Floridians, would use the image of a dead child as target practice," said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon Martin's parents. "Such a deliberate and depraved indifference to this grieving family is unacceptable. The citizens of Port Canaveral deserve better."
Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old South Florida youth was shot by Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012 in Zimmerman's gated Sanford town-house community.
Zimmerman wasn't arrested until an international outcry resulted in the appointment of a special prosecutor and a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman.
Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. His trial is set for June.
