In the early morning hours of November 28, 2005, a routine traffic stop in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn turned into a fatal encounter for 35-year-old New York City Police Department Detective Dillon Stewart. While on patrol with his partner in an unmarked car, Stewart observed a vehicle run a red light at the intersection of Flatbush and Church Avenues.
The driver of the vehicle, which had stolen New Jersey license plates, refused to pull over, initiating a pursuit.
As the officers' vehicle pulled alongside the fleeing car, the driver, later identified as Allan Cameron, opened fire, discharging at least five rounds into the police car. One of the bullets tragically found its way through the armhole of Detective Stewart's protective vest, striking him in the heart. Despite the mortal wound, Stewart courageously continued the chase for a short distance before he was overcome by his injuries. The suspect managed to temporarily evade capture by speeding into a basement garage, though he was apprehended a short time later in an apartment about a block away. The 9mm handgun used in the shooting was recovered outside the building. Detective Stewart was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries six hours later.
The investigation that followed revealed that Allan Cameron was also a suspect in the shooting and wounding of an off-duty police officer during a robbery attempt that had occurred just nine days prior. In October 2007, a Brooklyn jury found Allan Cameron guilty of the first-degree murder of Detective Dillon Stewart. The following month, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Detective Stewart, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, was posthumously promoted to the rank of Detective First Grade and was survived by his wife and two young daughters.
