Brother grieving sibling in mental health crisis after struck by police car

JENNINGS, Mo. - Durron Brown is in disbelief of his brother's passing after he received the call that his brother was walking down the street randomly firing off gunshots Monday.

“He wasn’t himself,” Brown said. “Just like a couple days ago, a lady was snowed in. He helped an older lady, found out she needed to be out, and he helped.”

Brown's brother, 37-year-old Durrell Dorn, ran his car into a pile of snow at West Florissant and Lucas and Hunt, then got out of his car and began firing his gun randomly. Police say they engaged in a shootout with him, which ended when an officer ran him over with his squad car.

Dorn died, leaving behind an 8-year-old son.

Brown said, “There’s nothing you can say to replace that. All I know is what I can do is be an uncle and just be supportive.”

Dorn was successfully able to work full-time at a Rally’s while managing his diagnosed mental illnesses.

Brown doesn’t know why his brother acted differently but suspects he may have missed a dose of his psychiatric medication or possibly taken an illegal substance that played a part in his actions.

“We think something like that, you know, because he was a person that was bipolar and schizophrenic all of his life," he explained.

He’s far from being alone in Missouri, according to the Department of Mental Health, which reported 41,460 mental health hospital visits in 2016.

The number grew to 51,664 mental health hospital visits in 2022, which is the most recent year in which those statistics have been compiled.

Brown added, “We were always telling him to take his medication.”

The medical examiner determined Brown's brother died from blunt force trauma after being hit by a police car—not a scenario Brown ever imagined would be the reason he’d never see his brother again.