To say the relationship between Calvin Griffin and his grandfather Damon Roach is strained, is an understatement.
The bad blood between the preacher of the First Missionary Baptist Church on East 38th Street and his grandson reached its boiling point the Thursday before Easter. Roach was letting Griffin stay at the church, but kicked him out when things started disappearing.
"He did not have any reason to blame me for stealing the stuff, but I had tried every approach to talk to him straight up, as a man, and asking him why he was accusing me," said Griffin. "I understand I took the drastic approach."
Drastic is putting it lightly, Griffin said he went out and bought a gun with the intent of forcing his grandfather to hear his side of the story. Griffin said he went to the church and when he walked towards Roach, his grandfather ran.
"The shot fired was more or less me tensing up after yelling, 'stop.' Naturally, I was tense, what aggravated me more was him taking off before I even got within three meters of him, before we could get eye-to-eye, he just shot off," said Griffin.
Roach made it outside and called 911. Griffin said he found a place inside the church where he waited, and calmed himself down.
"I was trying to be more rational, instead of trying to find another round and shoot myself in the head," said Griffin.
Griffin surrendered to officers after a 4-hour standoff, but he got what he wanted, he finally talked to his grandfather.
"I said, 'Are you happy now? Are you happy?" Griffin said.
Calvin Griffin had his initial hearing April 10, his pretrial hearing is set for May 29. His bond has been set at $100,000, he was also given a public defender.
