A long-standing feud over house rules at a seniors’ high rise led one resident to shoot and kill another, police said.
The shooting on Monday apparently occurred after an 66-year-old desk clerk at the building refused to allow an 80-year-old resident’s granddaughter to board an elevator without a visitor’s pass, police said.
Thomas Batty was shot once in the head as he sat behind the front desk. Clyde Lewis was charged with murder. Both lived on the building’s 12th floor.
Police Officer Troy Harris said the two had started arguing on Sunday.
‘Always after each other’
Residents told The (Baltimore) Sun the two argued frequently over house rules.
“They were always after each other,” said Olivia Riggins, 79, who has lived in the building for seven years.
The Rev. Henry Sanders, another tenant, said Batty had refused to let one of Lewis’ granddaughters enter the elevator until she had a visitor’s pass.
“Mr. Lewis came down here and he was furious, is what Mr. Batty told me,” Sanders said. “Batty said he threatened him, but neither one of us took him seriously.”
“Batty said he threatened him, but neither one of us took him seriously.”