Matthew Robert Dolloff
Police identified a 30-year-old man as the suspect in a fatal shooting during dueling protests Saturday in downtown Denver.
Matthew Robert Dolloff remained in jail Sunday without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting, jail records show. Dolloff was working as a private security guard for Denver television station 9News when the shooting occurred, the television station has said.
Denver police arrested Dolloff on suspicion of shooting and killing a man after a confrontation at the protests downtown. Photos of the incident show a man slap Dolloff and use pepper spray near the Denver Art Museum. Dolloff then shot the man, according to the photos. Police detained Dolloff at the scene.
The man who died has not been named publicly by officials but his son identified him as Lee Keltner in an interview with The Denver Post on Sunday.
Lee Keltner, whose son identified him as the victim of the fatal shooting during dueling protests in downtown Denver on Oct. 10, 2020, was photographed at his home-based shop for Crossfire Hats in Brighton on Jan. 7, 2015, for a business Q&A in The Denver Post.
Keltner, 49, was a Navy veteran who ran a hat-making business in the Denver area for many years, his son, Johnathan Keltner, said.
“He wasn’t a part of any group,” Johnathon Keltner said. “He was there to rally for the police department and he’d been down there before rallying for the police department.”
Carol Keltner, who said she lives in Arkansas and identified herself as Lee Keltner’s mother, posted a message on the Northeast Arkansas Tea Party Group on Facebook announcing his death at the Denver rally. “He was murdered because he backed the police,” she wrote.
A Facebook page with Dolloff’s full name and a photo that appears to match his jail booking photo shows that he worked on a ranch on the Eastern Plains where he raised sheep and dogs. Court records show Dolloff had no previous criminal history beyond traffic incidents.
Pinkerton, the security company 9News said it contracted with for the protest, did not immediately reply to questions from The Post sent Sunday morning.
Hundreds gathered at Civic Center on Saturday for the two demonstrations. Dozens of socialists and communists scheduled a food drive as a counter-protest to a planned “Patriot Rally” organized by conservative groups.
John “Tig” Tiegen — an El Paso County resident, conservative public speaker and one of the organizers of the Patriot Rally event — posted a statement on Sunday offering condolences to the family of the victim.
“It’s tragic that Americans find themselves in danger just by coming together and showing support for their country,” he wrote on Instagram.
