TURNER — Kevin Nichols is looking for the person who shot his dog.

As it turns out, so is a sizable chunk of the Turner population who have rallied around Nichols’ family in the aftermath of the reported shooting.

Nichols said his dog, Zeke, was apparently shot Wednesday afternoon while it was sniffing trash at the end of his Lower Street driveway — likely trash that had been tossed out somebody’s car window.

Around dinner time Wednesday, the family noticed that the dog was acting strangely, as if he didn’t feel well. Zeke was hunched over and shaking, Nichols said.

That’s when he noticed a puncture wound on the dog’s belly.

It appeared Zeke had been shot with a pellet gun, said Nichols, a former Androscoggin County Sheriff’s detective who plans to run for sheriff this year.

A trip to an animal emergency clinic in Lewiston verified his suspicion.

The damage from the resulting wound — the pellet had traveled from the dog’s belly and into its lung — was so severe, Nichols said, the animal had to be euthanized.

On Thursday, Nichols took to Facebook to rage against the shooter and to offer a $1,000 reward for information.

“I am so angry right now,” Nichols wrote. “To hell with you for making me watch my kids cry this hard.”

Nichols said he spent $1,200 at an emergency animal clinic in efforts to save Zeke before the decision was made to put the dog down.

Before long, the post had been shared by 340 people and more than 200 weighed in on the thread with condolences and anger.

“Oh, Kevin, I’m so sorry,” one woman wrote. “I hope you find this monster.”

“He was a beautiful and gentle dog,” wrote another. “I hope that rotten person gets caught.”

In the Facebook post, Nichols offered $1,000 to anyone with information about the shooter. At the same time, others were jumping in to increase the award amount.

“I had a bunch of people reach out,” Nichols said on Thursday.

Jimmy’s General Store in Turner jumped in to offer an additional $1,000 in reward money, Nichols said. A local woman put in $500 of her own and the award amount kept climbing. It was close to $3,000 late Thursday afternoon.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the matter. Some who live near Nichols have also offered up footage from their home security cameras.

“Neighbors are working graciously with us,” Nichols said, “and sharing any info they have.”

Meanwhile, Nichols also appealed to the shooter directly — if that person were to come forward, Nichols wrote, “I’ll save you the public humiliation and not press charges. You owe my family an apology and $1,200 in vet bills.”

Nichols has three children. At the start of the year, he announced that he would run for the Androscoggin County sheriff’s position, which will pit him against longtime Sheriff Eric Samson.

Nichols believes his dog was shot sometime between 4 and 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday as it was at the end of the driveway sniffing at a rotisserie chicken that had been dumped there, presumably by someone driving through the area.

He believes the shooter was probably aiming for the dog’s hindquarters but ended up inflicting more serious damage to the animal by hitting it in the stomach.

“I’m hoping that God forgives whoever this person is,” Nichols said, “because there’s a special place in hell for people who do this kind of thing.”