Retired St Louis police captain David Dorn shot dead on Facebook Live while protecting friend's pawnshop from looters
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: A retired St Louis policeman was shot dead on Tuesday, June 2, by looters who had broken into his friend's pawn shop. David Dorn, 77, was found lifeless in front of Lee's Pawn & Jewelry post unrest and protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Both the shooting and the looting that took place at the pawnshop was shared on Facebook Live but has been taken down since.
The authorities have not yet released any details regarding what had led to the shooting at around 2.30 am on Tuesday. No arrests have been made in connection to the shooting. Dorn had been a friend of the pawnshop owner and would frequently check on the business when the alarms would go off, his wife shared with the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
Dorn had spent around 38 years on the St Louis police force before he had retired in 2007 after which he became the chief of Moline Acres, which is a small town located in the north of St Louis, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the Ethical Society of Police's news release, Dorn was "the type of brother that would've given his life to save them if he had to".
One witness shared that the Facebook live stream had completely sickened him. "The man just was shot and killed outside of Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry has me sick to my stomach," Marquaello Futrell wrote.
He also said that eyewitnesses did not bother to help Dorn out after they shot him. "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!"
A St Louis police commissioner, Colonel John W Hayden, Jr, said, "Many of us, the other officers, looked up to him. Was very well-liked, very pleasant. And his wife still works here. So a very sad time for our agency. We will honor him."
Former St Louis County police chief Tim Fitch said he too had watched the Facebook Live Post before it was removed. "Very traumatized right now. I´m hurting."
There have been nationwide protests and riots after George Floyd, an African American man, died on May 25. A Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin shoved his knee into Floyd's neck despite him repeatedly pleading and saying that he could not breathe. A viral video of the incident showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for a sickening 8 minutes or so.
Thousands have taken to the streets to protest systemic racism and call for bringing the police officers responsible for Floyd's death to justice.
We had earlier reported that while speaking to the Washington Post, George's brother Terrence said he plans to visit the scene of the tragic incident sometime this week. “I just want to feel my brother’s spirit... to connect with him again," he said.
“He would want us to seek justice the way we are, the way we’re trying to do, but channel it another way,” Terrence told 'Good Morning America' on Monday. “Ripping up, damaging your hometown is not the way he’d want."