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PCNY 2010 Medal of Valor Award presented to Rome Police Officer Donald Moore

Police Officer Donald Moore has been an officer of the Rome Police Department since May of 2007 and has twice been awarded letters of commendation.

Officer Moore was off duty on May 27th, 2010 and was shopping with his girlfriend for a new phone for her at the AT&T store located on Commercial Drive in Whitestown, New York.  As Officer Moore and his girlfriend were being waited on by Seth Turk, an AT&T employee, Abraham Dickan, a 79-year-old who had recently had his pistol permit license revoked, entered the building and walked directly to Mr. Turk and shot him at point-blank range with a .357 magnum handgun.  Officer Moore, without any hesitation, drew his off-duty weapon and fired on Dickan, emptying his entire .40 caliber Glock magazine into him.

Abraham Dickan was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.  Dickan, who had been banned from the store previously for entering and displaying a handgun to employees, had his pistol permit revoked days earlier for the same incident.  The .357 magnum used to shoot Seth Turk was not listed on his pistol permit prior to it being revoked.  In the store at the time of the shooting there were six customers and six employees, not including Moore and his girlfriend.  After the scene was secured, a search of the body of Abraham Dickan revealed that he had a “hit” list of AT&T employees in that store and more than enough ammunition on his person to kill everyone in the building and possibly any law enforcement response.

Officer Donald Moore’s brave actions on that day swiftly ended any further threat that Abraham Dickan posed and saved not only the lives of every person at the AT&T store that day, but any other law enforcement responders who might have come in contact with Dickan.  It is with great pride that we award Police Officer Donald Moore the 2010 Police Conference of New York Medal of Valor.