One Year After Looters Killed Retired Police Captain David Dorn, St. Louis Mourns

Members of the St. Louis, Mo., community gathered on Wednesday to honor the life of retired police captain David Dorn, who was shot and killed by looters one year ago as he defended his friend’s pawn shop amid violent unrest in the city.

“David was the best partner you could ever have,” said Dorn’s former partner, Ed Ron Jablonski, at the event held by the Ethical Society of Police, which represents black cops in St. Louis.

St. Louis police Chief John Hayden said that while Dorn had “officially retired from our department some years earlier, he remained a police officer at heart.”

Last June, Hayden described the night of Dorn’s death as “mayhem.” Four police officers were shot, some 55 businesses were attacked, and a convenience store was set on fire. It was just one of countless nights of rioting that gripped nearly every major American city after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.

Dorn’s widow, Ann Dorn, said her husband would regularly respond when Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry’s burglar alarm was triggered. On the night of his death — June 2, 2020 — Dorn was defending the shop from looters around 2:30 a.m. when he was fatally shot.

His death was live-streamed on Facebook Live. During the 13-minute-long video that circulated online, a young man can be heard saying,“Oh my God, cuz … They just killed this old man at the pawn shop over some TVs … c’mon, man, that’s somebody’s granddaddy.”

At the time, then-President Trump paid his respects to Dorn on Twitter, 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!”

Dorn, an African-American, retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in 2007 after 38 years of service. He became Chief of Police for the Moline Acres Police Department the next year.

On the anniversary of the 77-year-old officer’s death, St. Louis County Councilman Tim Fitch said he remembers Dorn as a “great friend” and “wonderful law enforcement officer.”

“He’s very much missed and the night that he was taken from our community was a horrible evening for everyone in St. Louis,” Fitch told National Review. He added that the violent evening of unrest was “really fed by the defund the police crowd which really whipped up a lot of protests in the St. Louis area that ultimately led to Captain Dorn’s death.”

Ann Dorn, the wife of David Dorn and a sergeant at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, condemned the “callousness” of rioters in a speech at the Republican National Convention in August.

She delivered her speech from home, speaking through tears as she recounted the night’s fatal events.

“I relive that horror in my mind every single day,” she said. “My hope is that having you relive it with me now will help shake this country from this nightmare we’re witnessing in our cities, and bring about positive, peaceful change.”

She added: “How did we get to this point, when so many young people are callous and indifferent towards human life? This isn’t a videogame, where you can commit mayhem and then just hit reset and bring all the characters back to life….Violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protest. They do not safeguard black lives: they only destroy them.”

Two men were charged in connection with Dorn’s murder less than a month after his death, while at least three others were charged with burglary.

Mark Jackson, 22, was charged with second-degree murder, as well as robbery, burglary, stealing over $750 and three counts of armed criminal action. Stephan Cannon, 24, was also charged with first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Cannon, Jackson, and others were seen on surveillance video leading a Pontiac G6 just outside the pawn shop before entering the store and taking several televisions, according to the charging documents. Police said video shows Cannon pointing a gun at Dorn and then Dorn is seen falling to the ground.

Police said Dorn was shot multiple times and that they had recovered several 9mm shell casings. 

Detectives found Jackson’s debit card and his fingerprint on a TV set inside the shop, according to charging documents.

Cannon had a criminal history: in 2019, he was released from probation on a 2013 robbery and assault, police said.

Police also arrested Jimmie Robinson, 27, who was charged with burglary, armed criminal action and stealing; Samuel Simpson, 38, who was charged with one count of burglary and one count of stealing; and James Johnson, who was charged with burglary and stealing over $750.

Dorn’s son Brian Powell told KTVI that his dad was a father of five who had ten grandchildren and that he was passionate about helping young people. Powell said he believed his father would have forgiven those behind the violence and tried to talk to them.

“Because he was real big on trying to talk to youth. And mentoring young people as well. He tried to get them on the straight and narrow and everything,” Powell told the station.

“The person who pulled the trigger, my message to them would just simply be, just step back from what you’re doing. Know the real reason that you’re protesting. Let’s do it in a positive manner. We don’t have to go out and loot and do all the other things,” Powell said.

Dorn’s daughter, Lisa Dorn, told reporters last year that she missed their talks the most.

“We talked almost every day and I just think about him all the time,” she said.

Another of David Dorn’s daughters, Debra White, said he was “just there for us. He was a great dad.”

Retired St. Louis City Police officer David Ellison said that Dorn had helped him out of poverty and into a life as a police officer. He called the retired captain a “great man” and “the sharpest, cleanest guy.”

Powell noted that “police work ran through his veins.”

Missouri lawmakers have voted to name a part of Interstate -70 in memory of Dorn and his tireless service to his community.

“That does not happen often,” Missouri State Representative Shamed Dogan (R) said of the renaming during the memorial for Dorn on Wednesday.

“I am encouraged that his legacy is going to live in forever,” he added.