Man Charged With Killing Yarmouth Officer Faces Trial

The trial of a man charged with killing a Massachusetts police officer in 2018 is scheduled to get underway Monday with jury selection.

Thomas Latanowich, of Somerville, faces a murder charge in Barnstable Superior Court in the death of Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon.

Gannon, 32, the department's K-9 officer, was killed in April 2018 while he and other officers were serving an arrest warrant for a possible probation violation at a Barnstable home. Gannon’s dog, Nero, was also shot, but survived.

Latanowich, described by prosecutors as a career criminal with a lengthy record, is also facing other charges, including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, firearm possession without a license and mistreating/interfering with a police dog.

He has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since his arrest.

Latanowich’s lawyer, Joseph Krowski, has previously argued that Latanowich acted in self-defense and was afraid for his life because the officers were the aggressors.

Krowski also unsuccessfully tried to get the trial moved off Cape Cod because extensive local media coverage of the case had created an “overwhelmingly negative community sentiment” toward his client, making it impossible to sit an impartial jury.