A retired St Louis police captain has been shot dead Tuesday by looters who had broken into his friend’s pawn shop.
David Dorn, 77, was found dead on the sidewalk in front of Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry in the early hours following unrest that followed a peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The shooting and theft at the pawn shop apparently was posted on Facebook Live, but the video has since been taken down.
A second Facebook video showed a man walking up to Dorn as he lay dying. The man could be heard pleading with him to stay alive as he lay in a pool of his blood.
Police have not released details of what led to the shooting about 2.30am Tuesday and no one has been arrested.
Dorn was a friend of the pawn shop’s owner and frequently checked on the business when alarms went off, his wife, Ann Marie Dorn, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The retired captain had served 38 years on the St. Louis police force before retiring in October 2007. He then became chief of Moline Acres, a small town north of St. Louis.
Retired St Louis police captain David Dorn, pictured, was shot dead Tuesday by looters who had broken into his friend’s pawn shop, officials said
The Ethical Society of Police, which represents black officers in St. Louis, said in a news release that Dorn was ‘the type of brother that would’ve given his life to save them if he had to’.
One witness to the Facebook Live video said the incident had ‘sickened’ him.
Marquaello Futrell wrote: ‘The man just was shot and killed outside of Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry has me sick to my stomach.’
A Facebook video showed a man walking up to Dorn as he lay dying. The man could be heard pleading with him to stay alive as he lay in a pool of his blood
He suggested eyewitnesses did not help Dorn after he was shot, adding: ‘It’s one thing to be a victim of a robbery/assault but to lie in you own blood pleading for help and no help comes other than people standing around on FB Live recording his death. All over social media. I’m upset and can’t sleep!’
Dorn’s death came on a violent night in St. Louis, which saw four officers shot, officers pelted with rocks, and businesses burned and robbed.
Cities across the U.S. have seen protests and violence since Floyd died last week after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes – even after the handcuffed black man stopped moving and pleading for air.
Police investigate the scene of a shooting at Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry in St. Louis, Tuesday
Diane Davis of St. Louis stops to leave flowers and pay respects to David Dorn on Tuesday
Colonel John W. Hayden, Jr., a St. Louis police commissioner, called Dorn a ‘fine captain.’
‘Many of us, the other officers, looked up to him,’ Hayden said. ‘Was very well-liked, very pleasant. And his wife still works here. So a very sad time for our agency. We will honor him.’
President Trump tweeted his own tribute Tuesday evening, writing: ‘Our highest respect to the family of David Dorn, a Great Police Captain from St. Louis, who was viciously shot and killed by despicable looters last night. We honor our police officers, perhaps more than ever before. Thank you!’
President Trump tweeted his own tribute Tuesday evening, writing: ‘Our highest respect to the family of David Dorn, a Great Police Captain from St. Louis, who was viciously shot and killed by despicable looters last night. We honor our police officers, perhaps more than ever before. Thank you!’
Tim Fitch, the former St. Louis County police chief called Dorn ‘a true public servant’, adding: ‘Protecting & serving all the way to the end. None of us who knew you are surprised you went out fighting at Lee’s Pawn this morning. God speed my friend.’
State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, told the Post-Dispatch that he watched to Facebook Live post before it was removed.
‘Very traumatized right now,’ he said about an hour after the shooting occurred. ‘I´m hurting.’