A night of violence in St. Louis: Retired police officer killed and four other officers shot

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a retired police captain was shot to death by a looter who broke into a pawnshop where the former captain worked as a security guard.

David Dorn had retired in 2007 after serving 38 years in the police department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences on Tuesday evening saying, “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!”

At present, law enforcement officers have made no arrest and there are no known suspects in the case. However, authorities have announced a reward of US$10,000 for any information related to the incident.

Tim Fitch, the chief of the police department in St. Louis also tweeted, “A true public servant. 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. #DavidDorn.”

In a separate incident on Tuesday morning, four other law enforcement officers were shot.

None however, suffered any life-threatening injuries.

At a news conference, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said two officers were shot in the leg, one in the foot and the other in the arm.

“Thankfully, thank God they are alive. Can we make some sense out of this? That’s all I am trying to say,” he told reporters. At the time of the news conference, the police had not been able to identify any suspects related to the shooting.

Protests over the killing of George Floyd grew increasingly violent in St. Louis on Tuesday. A downtown convenience store was burned, officers were pelted with stones and fireworks and more than 60 businesses, including cellphone stores, beauty supply stores and pawnshops were looted.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson has since implemented a 9 p.m. curfew in an effort to contain the unrest tweeting, “In order to protect the health, safety & welfare of our residents, businesses, and institutions, today I signed an executive order establishing a citywide curfew that goes into effect at 9pm tonight and will continue until 6 am the next day. It repeats daily until further notice."

Demonstrations have broken out in 120 cities across the United States after George Floyd, an unarmed black man was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer last week. Following Floyd’s death, many cities, like St. Louis have witnessed historic levels of violence prompting several governors to call in for assistance from the National Guard.

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