Murdered New York Police Officer Described as Devoted Family Man

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The New York Sun

At the 70th Police Precinct, Dillon Stewart’s days ended as Ronald Paulin’s started. For years, as one officer retrieved his personal effects from the locker room, the other would ready for his shift.


Yesterday morning, when Mr. Paulin woke up, he flipped on the radio to the news a police officer had been shot in southern Brooklyn. It was Stewart.


A police officer for five years, Stewart, 35, had been killed in the same neighborhood where he spent most of his life.


At the East Flatbush precinct, Mr. Paulin took a few moments out of his shift yesterday to reflect on a “well liked officer.”


“He was not a gung-ho type of officer, he did his job and he did it well,” Mr. Paulin said. “He liked quiet times at home with his family. He loved his daughters a lot.”


Stewart would often update Mr. Paulin about his daughters, ages 4 months and 10 years old.


A native of Savannah-La-Mar, Jamaica, Stewart as a youngster joined his family in Brooklyn. He went on to earn an associate’s degree from City University of New York, a cousin, Odette Flemming, said.


Five years ago, he joined the police force “to support his family,” Ms. Flemming said. “His heart was his family and that sums it up,” she said. “He was the caretaker for his grandmother, he took care of his girls, of his wife, and that was his joy.”


Sunday night, Stewart stopped by his grandmother’s on the way to the precinct for his midnight shift. While he had moved his family to Long Island a couple of years ago, Stewart stayed in close touch with family in Brooklyn.


Then Stewart drove off to work. At 3a.m., Stewart and his partner, Paul Lipka, spotted an Infiniti as it sped through a red light. A chase ensued and Stewart was shot at least five times. One of the bullets struck under the armpit, just missing his bulletproof vest.


Ms. Flemming said that when she heard the news she rushed to the hospital. She said she though Stewart “was going to pull through, he was stabilized.” After an operation and more than an hour attempting to revive him, however, Stewart was pronounced dead at 8:40 a.m.


Ms. Flemming said yesterday evening that Stewart’s wife “is still in shock. She’s still shaking her head going, ‘I don’t believe this.'”


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