Police Arrest Alleged Killer Of Retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn
St. Louis, MO June 9 2020– The rioter accused of fatally shooting retired St. Louis Metro Police Captain David Dorn outside a pawn shop on June 2 has been arrested and charged with murder.
After shooting the 77-year-old retired police captain multiple times, his attackers broadcast his horrific death on Facebook Live.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner identified the alleged gunman as 24-year-old Stephan Cannon on Sunday, KSDK reported.
According to court documents, security footage showed Cannon and multiple other suspects as they pulled up to Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry in a Pontiac G6 sometime before 2:30 a.m., KMOV reported.
The alleged gunman and his accomplices forced their way inside the business and proceeded to haul several televisions out of the building, security footage showed.
Cannon, armed with a handgun, walked over to the outside corner of the store just moments before retired Capt. Dorn arrived at the scene, according to court documents.
The former captain’s widow, Ann Marie Dorn, later explained that her husband was friends with the owner of the pawn shop and that he also worked for him, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
She said he often responded to the store when the burglar alarm was triggered.
Cannon allegedly opened fire on retired Captain Dorn as he was approaching the pawn shop, KSDK reported.
“It is apparent from the surveillance that at the time the shots were fired, Cannon was the only person standing at that corner,” the charging documents read.
Several plumes of smoke were seen rising up from the area where the alleged gunman was standing, investigators noted.
The retired captain immediately collapsed to the ground.
According to witnesses, someone yelled into the store after the shooting and told the other looters that it was time to leave, KMOV reported.
The suspects ran outside subsequently broadcast the wounded captain’s death on Facebook Live.
Numerous social media users posted comments about having watched the horrific video, which has since been removed from Facebook, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“What I just witnessed on several lives has me sickened to my stomach,” former St. Louis Police Officer Marquaello Futrell wrote in a Facebook post.
“The man just was shot and killed outside of Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry,” Futrell added. “It’s one thing to be a victim of a robbery/assault but to lie in [your] 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!”
Retired Capt. Dorn’s body was discovered outside the store after the looters fled the area.
He had been fatally shot in the torso multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, KSDK reported.
Security footage allegedly showed that Cannon, a driver, and one other passenger drove off in the Pontiac G6, according to KMOV.
An eyewitness identified Cannon, who later confessed that he had been inside the pawn shop on the night of retired Capt. Dorn’s murder, KSDK reported
He said he tried to change his appearance by cutting his hair after police released security footage from the store, according to court documents.
Investigators also found one of the pawn shop’s stolen televisions inside Cannon’s home.
Cannon has been arrested on charges of felon in possession of a firearm, three counts of armed criminal action, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, and first-degree murder, KSDK reported.
One of his accomplices, 27-year-old Jimmie Robinson, was arrested on charges of stealing, armed criminal action, and burglary, according to KMOV.
Capt. Dorn served SLMPD for 38 years before he retired in 2007, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
He was last assigned as the Bureau of Patrol Support deputy commander, and was tasked with overseeing the tactical unit, commercial vehicles, mounted patrol and traffic unit.
He also spent time serving as the chief of police in Moline Acres.
“David Dorn was a fine captain, many of us young officers looked up to him,” St. Louis Metro Police Chief John Hayden told KMOV.
Capt. Dorn will be laid to rest on Wednesday, KSDK reported.
The prosecutor’s office is not in the best position to handle prosecution. The office has been a mess since the Gardner took office two-and-a-half years ago.
More than 65 prosecutors have left the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office since Gardner took office – a turnover rate of more than 100 percent.
Some attorneys quit and others were fired, but they took with them a combined 470 years of prosecutorial experience, leaving the office in really bad shape, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Gardner, who is notoriously anti-police, has tried to deflect criticism of her management of the prosecutor’s office by complaining the police department has failed to solve enough murders and retweeting criticism of officers.
She has said she is committed to creating “a more accountable criminal justice system,” and that she will “continue to hold people accountable regardless of their occupation and position in life,” The St. Louis American reported.
