YPD Welcomes Nero Back to Headquarters

YARMOUTH – Just over three weeks after the line-of-duty death of Officer Sean Gannon the Yarmouth Police Department hosted a press event yesterday with Gannon’s K-9 partner Nero.

Nero has been recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound sustained while officers were attempting to serve a warrant in Marstons Mills, a shooting which killed Gannon.

Nero was shot through the neck damaging his larynx and esophagus. The bullet remains lodged inside him and doctors have said they will leave the bullet instead of removing it to prevent any more discomfort for the dog.

Over the past weeks, the department reports receiving thousands of inquiries from all over the world about Nero.

Retired K9 officer Peter McClelland has been caring for the dog since Nero was released from surgery. He said that Gannon’s widow comes to visit the her husband’s K-9 and that the experience has been an emotional one.

“I’ve had a hard time because when everybody else did funeral and so forth, I was with the dog so I didn’t get the closure there,” he said, “But if I think about it I think that I did the right thing. Sean would have wanted that, so it kinda comes and goes. It’s gonna take a long time to heal.”

While Nero is finally out of the hospital, he is out of the woods. It is expected that he will continue to recover for another 3 weeks and then possibly be returned to the Gannon family.

Several other dog handlers were on hand for the event on Thursday including Barnstable police K-9 Officer Sean Roycroft, who has also spent time taking care of Nero.

“They had a great bond, they had a great bond together they could read off of each other,” he said of Nero’s relationship with Sean, “Nero could read off of Sean, it wasn’t even what he said but more how he said it. They just got used to each other.”

YPD thanks everyone all across the world for their prayers, donations, and concerns.

By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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