On the afternoon of January 30, 2004, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department suffered a tragic loss during an undercover narcotics operation in the city's specialized 'Weed and Seed' zone. Nicholas Kevin Sloan, a 24-year-old male officer who had served with the department for just over two years, was patrolling near the intersection of North Taylor Avenue and Enright Avenue.
He and his partner, Officer Gabriel Keithley, were operating in plainclothes and monitoring the area for illicit activity when they observed what appeared to be a drug transaction taking place in the parking lot of a local liquor store.
Determined to intervene, the officers approached the individual involved in the transaction to investigate further. As they attempted to question the man, the situation escalated rapidly into a violent physical confrontation. The suspect, identified as Dennis E. Hawthorn, fiercely resisted the officers' attempts to detain him. During the ensuing struggle, Officer Sloan sustained significant injuries, including a deep gash above his right eye, but the altercation continued to intensify as the suspect fought for control.
In the heat of the scuffle, Hawthorn managed to disarm Officer Sloan, seizing the officer's service weapon. He then fired the stolen gun, striking Officer Sloan. Reports indicate the fatal round entered the officer’s chest just above his protective vest, traveling through his shoulder and piercing his heart. After mortally wounding Sloan, the gunman turned the weapon on Officer Keithley, shooting him twice. Despite his injuries, Keithley managed to return fire, striking Hawthorn and killing him at the scene. Because the assailant was deceased, there were no arrests or trials connected to the murder, though the investigation confirmed Hawthorn as the sole perpetrator of the lethal violence.
