A New Orleans police officer who fatally shot a puppy while responding to a call is set to face a jury trial Monday in federal court after being sued by the dog's owners.

Multiple internal investigations by the New Orleans Police Department found the 2021 lethal shooting of the 18 week old, 22 pound (10 kilogram) rescue dog Apollo to be in violation of its policies and "unjustified."

The department's internal investigators said the dog, which ran up to Officer Derrick Burmaster after he entered the yard to respond to a report of domestic disturbance, did not pose a threat.

After Apollo's owners sued Burmaster and the City of New Orleans in 2022, the department's leadership exonerated the officer of wrongdoing for his use of force following a disciplinary hearing in July 2023.

The city’s Independent Police Monitor, Stella Cziment, whose office has closely followed the case says, "Choices were made and in our assessment those choices deviated from how officer Burmaster was trained to handle these moments and how policy expects him to handle these moments."