Retired Police Captain Was Murdered While Protecting His Friend’s Pawn Shop During Riots, Widow Says
Retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn was trying to defend his friend’s pawn shop Monday night as the city continued to devolve into chaos.
In video that has since been removed, Dorn, 77, can be seen defending the business during his last moments of life. Dorn was killed by looters and rioters who broke into Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry; his body was found on the sidewalk outside around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Associated Press reported that no arrests have been made in the case so far.
Dorn’s wife, St. Louis police Sgt. Ann Marie Dorn, told the St. Louis Dispatch that her husband was friends with the owner of the pawn shop and regularly came to the owner’s aid whenever alarms went off.
Dorn’s death came as violent riots broke out across the U.S. in response to the cop-involved death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground and placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
Dorn retired from the St. Louis police force in October 2007 after serving 38 years. His close friend on the force, St. Louis County police Chief Tim Fitch, who knew Dorn for 30 years, told the media that Dorn and his wife helped disadvantaged youth while he was on the force.
“He was very dedicated to youth, especially disadvantaged youth,” said Fitch, led a similar program at the county level. “He wanted to see them succeed. He wanted to be a role model for those young men and women to go into law enforcement.”
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump honored Dorn in a tweet after his death was reported, The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra reported.
“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!” Trump tweeted a long with a photo of Dorn in uniform.
Dorn is among many police officers who were killed or attacked during the riots, as The Daily Wire previously reported. Four officers in Missouri were shot while trying to contain rioters. A police officer in Las Vegas was in “grave condition” and on life support after being shot. An officer was also shot in Iowa after an ambush. Two officers in Richmond, Virginia, were shot after responding to a report of an armed person, though it is still unclear if the person was involved with the riots.
In Buffalo, New York, two officers were injured after an SUV ran into a line of police trying to maintain the peace. Another officer was run over by a speeding vehicle in the Bronx.
