Ron King, Fla. police officer, fired for using shooting targets that resembled Trayvon Martin

(CBS/AP) PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Florida police officer was fired Friday after he allegedly brought targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range for shooting practice, CBS affiliate WTSP reports.

Sgt. Ron King of the Port Canaveral Police Department was reportedly leading a target practice with other police officers on April 4 when he pulled out the targets. He asked the group if they wanted to use the targets and they said no, telling King to put them back into his patrol car.

"Whether it was his stupidity or his hatred, we don't know. However, on any level, is it not acceptable," said Port Canaveral Interim CEO John Walsh.

The targets displayed a silhouette of a person wearing a hoodie while holding a drink in its hand and carrying a bag of Skittles in its pocket -- the same items 17-year-old Martin carried with him when he was shot and killed last year by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Port Canaveral is about 50 miles southeast of Sanford, where Martin was shot. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense. His trial is set for June.

The Martin family released a statement following the investigation into King's dismissal from the police department.

"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," wrote family attorney Benjamin Crump.

King defended himself in a YouTube video, first apologizing to the Martin family for "being used as a pawn for somebody's political agenda" and then claiming that the allegations against him were based on lies and false information.

"These objects in the hand were non-threatening, and the target was something I viewed as an example of a no-shoot situation," King said.

King said he used the targets as a "tool for scenario-based firearms training" and no derogatory comments were made while he tried to show the class an example of a "no-shoot situation." He said he was looking for training methods to prevent such situations.