A very brave police dog, who rushed into action to save his handler at the cost of his own life, will have a second life in bronze outside the Braintree Police Department.

The monument was unveiled Thursday during a ceremony in which the department also rededicated its Officers Memorial.

“I think that we need to thank all the police officers that serve every day, day in, day out, when people are home in their beds. They serve all night long. They’re serving on weekends, holidays,” Braintree Police Chief Timothy Cohoon said during the ceremony. “We’re going to thank today a beloved police dog who if not for Kitt, it could have been a dramatically different day on June 4th, 2021.”

That’s the day the K-9 named Kitt, who according to the department had served for 12 years, was shot dead by a suspect of domestic violence. Her handler, Officer Bill Cushing as well as another officer, Richard Seibert, were also shot by the suspect, Andrew Homan, before a third officer, Matthew Donoghue, was able to take Homan out.

That officer was cleared in a Norfolk DA investigation into the shooting. The investigative summary provided details of the tragic day:

Police had received a call at around 12:45 p.m. that day by the domestic violence victim, who told arriving officers that she had been subjected to physical and verbal assaults over a 24-hour period and that Homan had even pointed one of his pistols at her the day before. Surveillance footage showed police Homan had run off into the abutting woods prior to their arrival and so the three officers and Kitt set off on his trail.

Kitt had located Homan’s scent and they soon found the armed man, who according to the DA did not obey commands to put his weapons down but instead fired, injuring Cushing and ending Kitt’s life.

The department that evening would write a short memorial to Kitt that night: “We will forever miss you buddy.”

Cushing, Donoghue and Seibert were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Trooper George L. Hanna Memorial Award for Bravery ceremony held last November for their actions that night.

“Send special blessings upon those unique officers who are partnered with their K-9 officers. Those K-9s are not only partners with these officers but … come into their homes, they’re part of their family,” Father Sean Connor of Braintree’s Our Lady Queen of Peace said during the convocation. “Our nation, our world is suffering from a lack of peace. So send your blessing on these peace officers, watch over the work they do and help us to support them, not only in word but in deed.”

People check out the Braintree Police Department’s memorial for K-9 Kitt. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

The New England Revolution on Thursday released the recipients of the team’s multiple MVP Awards and Defender of the Year Award and the choices were obvious.

Revolution captain Carles Gil was voted team MVP by the club’s fanbase for the third time in the last five seasons. He was also named Player of the Year by his teammates. First-year center back Dave Romney was voted Defender of the Year by the local media.

Gil was the winner of the 2021 MLS Landon Donovan MVP Award and his numbers this season were comparable to that historic campaign. Gil is the third three-time MVP winner, tied with Joe-Max Moore and Taylor Twellman for the club record. Gil leads the team with 11 goals and will collect the Gold Boot award at the end of the season. He is tied for third in the league with 14 assists.

Romney was former head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena’s signature offseason acquisition in a cash only deal with Nashville SC. Romney is the second player in club history to play every minute of a 34-game schedule and leads MLS in clearances (154) and blocks (31).

RICH THOMPSON

Boston College has the third best rushing quarterback in the country and Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley feels that’s too much of a good thing.

BC dual threat signal caller Thomas Castellanos has 512 rushing yards, good for third in FBS by a quarterback, on 98 attempts with seven touchdowns.

Castellanos averages 5.1 yards per carry and 83.3 per game. The sophomore transfer from Central Florida is also one of three quarterbacks in FBS to pass for over 1,000 yards and rush for over 500.

Castellanos enjoyed a career day running the football in BC’s 27-24 win over Army on a bad weather day at West Point on Oct. 7. Castellanos rushed for 142 net yards on 31 carries with four touchdowns.

Hafley is counting on his stable of suddenly healthy tailbacks to take greater control of the rushing duties when the Eagles (3-3, 1-2) confront the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-1) on Saturday (noon) at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“I think we did a good job of that last week and I think our backs had over 120 yards rushing,” said Hafley. “We definitely need to do that. We can’t go into a games thinking were are going to run our quarterback 31 times.

“That I hope was a one-time deal on a rainy day. But you have to rely on your running backs and wideouts and play complementary football. There are going to be games Thomas’ legs are going to carry us and then will be games with our backs.”

Castellanos has elevated the BC running game from the depths of the ACC a year ago. BC was last in the conference and all of FBS in rushing yards, averaging 63.2 per game. After six games this season, with back-to-back wins over Virginia and Army, BC is second in the ACC, averaging 193.7 yards per game.

The Eagles’ 321 net rushing yards at Army did inflate their rushing numbers and there were significant contributions from the running backs. Graduate student Pat Garwo rushed for 111 yards on 14 carries for a 7.9 yards per rush average while Alex Broome added 38 on eight carries.

Garwo notched the fifth 100-yard of his career and has 270 on the season with a touchdown. Transfer Kye Robichuax stepped up when Garwo was injured earlier in the campaign and has registered 218 yards with two touchdowns. All three backs have been helpful to Castellanos on checkdowns and screen passes, combining for 75 yards on 11 receptions with a touchdown.

“We’ve got some big backs and some smaller guys and we are getting healthy there and we have a real good O-line,” said Hafley. “You can see it. The holes have been really big and we have changed up a little more this year.

“There are more gap schemes where we are getting down hill on people. But at the same time, we have the quarterback run element where we can kind of hit you on the edge and pop one in the middle, too. We are going to need our backs. We can’t keep relying on our quarterback running.”