Officer accused of having Trayvon Martin targets

Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY | USATODAY

A police officer accused of bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range has been fired, according to several reports.

Port Canaveral, Fla. Interim Chief Executive Officer John Walsh told WFTV on Saturday that Sgt. Ron King was leading a target practice with two other officers and a civilian when he pulled out the targets April 4. Walsh says King asked the group if they wanted to use the targets, and they said no.

"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."

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Trayvon, 17, on Feb. 26, 2012, in a gated Sanford, Fla. community. Trayvon's family argues the young man, who was black, was targeted and murdered. Zimmerman says he shot Trayvon in self-defense after being attacked.

For months across the country, people — fixated on Trayvon, Zimmerman and Sanford — have protested and debated about race, gun laws, and the meaning of self-defense.

Zimmerman, who faces a second-degree murder charge, is set to go on trial June 10.

Contributing: Associated Press