A 33-year-old Dayton man was charged with second-degree murder Tuesday for fatally shooting another man in a downtown Minneapolis hotel room.
Brian V. Griffin, 33, of Dayton, was charged in Hennepin County District Court. The dead man, Jeremy Shannon, 33, of Minneapolis, was shot early Saturday in a room at the Millennium Hotel on the Nicollet Mall.
Griffin was also charged with attempted second-degree murder for shooting at another man, who was not wounded. He has not been identified.
According to the complaint, four men were in the hotel room smoking methaphetamine when Griffin walked to the door as if he were leaving. Instead, he pulled a handgun from his waistband, turned and shot Shannon numerous times and also shot at another of the men. Griffin then fled.
Police found him a short time later in a closet at the nearby Hyatt Regency Minneapolis and arrested him without incident.
Griffin told police that Shannon and the others were talking about things that had made him nervous.
"I have to do this," the complaint quoted him as telling police.
Both Griffin and Shannon had extensive criminal records.
