DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. — A Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety officer has been terminated for sharing a racially “inappropriate” social media post, according to Daytona Beach Shores PD.

• DB Shores officer terminated for 'inappropriate' post
• Moriarty shared post of himself depicted w/ "afro," beard, cartoon gun
• Post also said "this is how I celebrate Black History Month"

Officer Matthew Moriarty was terminated Monday after an internal investigation revealed Moriarty posted a Snapchat post that depicted himself with an “afro hairstyle and beard,” a cartoon gun, and a syringe dripping with blood, according to authorities.

The post also included a filter that read “This is how I celebrate Black History Month.” It was shared while off-duty.

Director Stephan Dembinsky suspended Moriarty after he received 15 complaints. The recipients of the post confirmed it came from Moriarty.

Dembinky said he first found out about the post from a father reporting the photo.

"He described this photo to me, and I was so, I was horrified ... " he said. "And he sent me the photo ... it was unbelievable, I had never seen anything like that. I was shocked.”

After the initial complaint, Dembinsky said he suspended Moriarty immediately, and then took his badge and gun. The investigation was concluded just over a week ago.

Dembinsky then said he interviewed the officer one last time to see if there was any other information left.

"The officer really had no explanation why he done it, not in the investigation or anywhere," he said.

Moriarty reportedly never disputed that he sent the photos and sent it to several people, according to a Daytona Beach Shores PD press release.

Dembinsky recommended termination to Daytona Beach Shores City Manager Michael T. Booker, who upheld Dembinsky's recommendation for termination Tuesday.

"Police officers are impartial. If they are not impartial, we cannot carry out our job," he said. "This picture in itself shows a bias towards a minority, which not only is it terrible, it’s horribly insulting.”

Dembinsky also spoke about why it's necessary for law enforcement to be unbiased in their positions.

"You have to weed these people out with biases and prejudices. Whatever reason you have that you can’t treat people equally, you cannot be a police officer, nor do I want you here,” he said. "This denigrates the public trust."

Moriarty worked for the department for 2 and 1/2 years, officials say. The department also reportedly contacted the State Attorney’s Office to look over any open cases to see if there was any bias.