Police dog bids farewell to slain cop
More than 1,000 people - including hundreds of fellow police officers
from surrounding states - turned out at a funeral in rural Kentucky
recently to pay their respects to Jason Ellis, a 33-year-old K-9 officer
gunned down in what authorities believe was an ambush.
Fido, Ellis' police dog, was there, too, placing his paw on the
closed casket - a moment captured in a heartbreaking image by
photographer Jonathan Palmer.
Fido was not with Ellis on May 25 when he was shot multiple times
while collecting debris on a highway off-ramp in Bardstown, Kentucky, a
close-knit community of about 12,000 located 40 miles southeast of
Louisville. Ellis' slaying remains unsolved.
Dozens of fellow K-9 officers attended the funeral and, according to
the Herald Leader, their dogs could be heard barking from their
cruisers:
"Hundreds of officers snapped to attention when the honour guard was
called; the 60 or so police dogs at the ceremony barked with the sound
of the guards' 21-gun salute."
Ellis, a six-year veteran of the police force, was remembered by
Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin, who pledged to hunt down the
killer.
"I am your chief, Jason, but you're our hero and you need to know
this chief will not stand down," McCubbin said. "Jason, my friend, rest
easy. We've got it from here."
Ellis is survived by his wife, Amy, and two sons: Hunter, 7, and
Parker, 6.
"He paid the ultimate sacrifice doing what he loved, being a police
officer," McCubbin added.
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