Retired St. Louis Police Captain Shot to Death Outside Looted Pawn Shop

David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired St. Louis, Missouri, police officer who served 38 years on the force was shot and killed by looters at a pawn shop early on June 2, 2020. Scott Bandle, Suburban Journals/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

A retired St. Louis police captain was shot and killed outside of a looted pawn shop in St. Louis on June 1, according to a local police organization and authorities.

David Dorn, 77, was found dead by police outside Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry store.

The Ethical Society of Police of St. Louis said that Dorn was a retired St. Louis captain, and his wife, Ann, currently works for the police department, KMOV reported.

“He was murdered by looters at a pawn shop. He was the type of brother that would’ve given his life to save them if he had to. Violence is not the answer, whether it’s a citizen or officer,” the Ethical Society wrote.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said Dorn was murdered while “exercising law enforcement.”

“David Dorn was a fine captain, many of us young officers looked up to him,” Hayden said.

The looting occurred amid violent protests, riots, vandalism, and arson in the city in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody last week. Floyd died after an officer was recorded holding a knee on his neck during an arrest.

Dorn spent 38 years with the police department, according to the KMOV report.

Following a night of protests, broken windows and looted stores stand in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood in New York City on June 1, 2020. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Meanwhile, local officials said that his shooting death was captured in a Facebook Live video.

“I just seen a man die on live man! Smh,” state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge said on Facebook, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, referring to Dorn’s shooting death. “Very traumatized right now.”

A Facebook spokesman, Andy Stone, stated that he was attempting to track down more information about the video.

One Facebook user wrote: “What I just witnessed on several lives has me sickened to my stomach. The man just was shot and killed outside of Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry has me sick to my stomach. 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 wife told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her husband was a friend of the pawn shop’s owner and worked for him.

On June 1, four St. Louis police officers were shot during protests downtown, authorities said.