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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Salt Lake City police say an officer who shot a dog dead while searching for a missing child felt the animal was a threat.
Chief Chris Burbank said Friday the officer was Brett Olsen, who in 2007 helped take down a gunman who killed five bystanders at Salt Lake City's Trolley Square Mall.
Burbank says the department received hate mail related to the Weimaraner's death, including death threats to Olsen.
Burbank says public outcry has risen louder than cases wherein people are shot.
The dog's owner says he wants the officer fired.
Police say Olsen on June 18 entered the backyard of a Sugar House home after no one answered the door. Police later found the missing boy safe inside his home
Olsen remains on duty pending a department probe.
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