{"id":27181,"date":"2021-02-24T14:54:05","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T18:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=27181"},"modified":"2025-08-27T08:50:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T12:50:56","slug":"bruce-prothero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/","title":{"rendered":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who was Sergeant Bruce Prothero? How was the other Wes Moore involved in his murder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during the other Wes Moore’s robbery of J. Brown Jewelers. The off-duty officer was moonlighting as a security guard when he became a victim of the violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn about the shooting of Bruce Prothero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Shooting of Sergeant Bruce Prothero<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The store was J. Brown Jewelers in Baltimore County. Two masked gunmen entered on the afternoon of February 7 and forced everyone to the ground.<\/strong> Two other masked men entered, smashed the glass cases housing the jewels, and put the loot in bags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the people on the ground was the security guard Bruce Prothero. However, people mostly knew him as Sergeant Bruce Prothero of the Baltimore County police department. He was thirty-five years old, a thirteen-year veteran of the police force, and the father of five children under the age of six, including baby triplets. It was his day off, but he was covering for a friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergeant Bruce Prothero watched the robbers pillage the store and make their way out with almost half a million in jewels. The masked men ran to two cars in the lot next door. Sergeant Bruce Prothero ran through the entrance, gun in hand, and followed the perpetrators through the lot. He hid behind cars, peeking up to see where the men had run to. He had no idea that one of the cars he stopped behind was a getaway car. As he raised up to look through the window, a gloved hand aimed a gun at him and fired.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruce Prothero was shot once in the head and once in the chest. He stood and ran back toward the store, but he didn\u2019t make it far. After ten feet, he collapsed and bled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Manhunt <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Baltimore City averaged three hundred murders a year, making it one of the deadliest places in the country. But in Baltimore County, murders weren\u2019t as common, especially those involving law enforcement. The jewelry store crime had hit two nerves at once, and everyone wanted to catch the vicious criminals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day after the burglary, a wiretap of an uninvolved drug dealer led to the capture of one of the burglars when he tried to sell the stolen items to the dealer. From him, they received the names of the other men. This information led to the capture of another suspect. Both claimed they weren\u2019t the shooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve days after the robbery, Wes Moore strolled down a Philadelphia street with his brother Tony<\/strong>. He carried a sandwich and a new pair of jeans. He spotted a police cruiser down the block. When they got closer, he saw two men inside speaking into walkie-talkies. This wasn\u2019t the first time Wes had seen the cruiser. Twice earlier in the day, the same car had been parked nearby in different parts of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wes figured if the men were after him and Tony, they would have picked them up by now. He kept walking without giving it much thought. The two went back to their uncle\u2019s house in a rundown neighborhood on the north side. Wes went up to the room he and Tony shared and started to eat his sandwich. Tony said he needed to run out and went back down the stairs. Wes heard Tony\u2019s footsteps bounding down, but he didn\u2019t hear the door shut behind him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wes took another bite, then went to shut the door. When Wes reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes landed on Tony’s face first on the ground<\/strong>. A cop was cinching handcuffs on his wrists. A pack of officers jumped on Wes before he could move and pointed guns in his face. The manhunt was over.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who was Sergeant Bruce Prothero? How was the other Wes Moore involved in his murder? Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during the other Wes Moore’s robbery of J. Brown Jewelers. The off-duty officer was moonlighting as a security guard when he became a victim of the violent crime. Continue reading to learn about the shooting of Bruce Prothero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":27197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,33],"tags":[208],"class_list":["post-27181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-people","tag-the-other-wes-moore","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nDid the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1166\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\"},\"wordCount\":660,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Other Wes Moore\"],\"articleSection\":[\"History\",\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\",\"name\":\"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg\",\"width\":1166,\"height\":648},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero? - Shortform Books","description":"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?","og_description":"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1166,"height":648,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?","datePublished":"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/"},"wordCount":660,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","keywords":["The Other Wes Moore"],"articleSection":["History","People"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/","name":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-24T18:54:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-27T12:50:56+00:00","description":"Sergeant Bruce Prothero worked at the Baltimore County police department and was shot during Wes Moore's robbery of J. Brown Jewelers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","width":1166,"height":648},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bruce-prothero\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Did the Other Wes Moore Murder Sergeant Bruce Prothero?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/gun-man.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27181"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145504,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27181\/revisions\/145504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}