Officer Gene Griffin, 42, was shot while working at his off-duty security
job at the Red Roof Inn. After receiving a noise complaint from a tenant, he told a trio
of 17 year olds to leave and returned to the hotel lobby. This was at 1 a.m. and barely 15
minutes later, the youths entered the lobby and one of them raised a shotgun and shot
Griffin at point-blank range. He died an hour later on the operating table at Carolinas
Medical Center.The suspects, Allen Lorezo Gaines, Mustafa Coleman, and Bryan Harris,
all were charged with murder in the slaying.
More than 2,000 officers from across both North and South Carolina attended Griffin's
November 25, 1991 funeral service.
He is survived by his widow, Hilda, herself a former Charlotte police officer, 2
children, a brother, Larry Griffin, who is a Dare Officer in the Matthews,
NC Police Department and his parents.
