Private guard shoots Denver protester

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Lee Keltner sprays Mace, left, as Matthew Dolloff fatally fires a gun. Associated Press/Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

Denver police on Sunday jailed a security guard for a TV station as they investigate him for first-degree murder. Photos from the scene showed 30-year-old Matthew Dolloff, who was not in uniform, shooting and killing 49-year-old U.S. Navy veteran Lee Keltner after Lee slapped and sprayed Mace at him. The incident took place at Denver’s Civic Center Park Saturday during two opposing protests: “Patriot Rally” and “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.”

Who is Dolloff? KUSA-TV confirmed it hired Dolloff through the Pinkerton security firm to accompany staff at protests. Eric Escudero, a spokesman for the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, told The Denver Post the city is investigating Dolloff’s license to operate as a private security guard after his name did not turn up in the city’s records: “If he was operating as a security guard, he was in violation of the law.”

Dig deeper: Read Sophia Lee’s report in WORLD Magazine on how the Breonna Taylor case became a cultural flashpoint.

Onize Oduah

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks