1 killed and 1 wounded in early morning shooting; suspect later kills himself

Police say a 51-year-old Southeast Raleigh man, suspected of a double shooting Friday that left one dead and one wounded, fled the scene and later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Jason Maurice Griffith was found mortally wounded in the 1500 block of Creech Road, the police department reported Friday afternoon.

Investigators think Griffith was responsible for the early morning gunfire that killed John Derrick Wright, 51, and wounded Emma Griffith, 51, also of Raleigh.

Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the shootings.

Police said Emma Griffith was married to Jason Griffith, but they did not know of any connections she had to Wright, who lived on Rock Quarry Road.

Just before 3 a.m., Wright, who was behind the wheel of a car, called 911 and told a dispatcher that a man driving a burgundy car pulled up beside him and pointed a gun at him in the southbound lanes of Capital Blvd., near Buffaloe Road.

“He’s following us,” Wright told the dispatcher, according to a 911 recording made public Friday by the Raleigh Police Department.

The dispatcher told Wright to pull to the side of the road and let the motorist pass.

“Naw, naw. No,” Wright said.

“Did they go by?” the dispatcher asked.

“Naw, they still behind us,” Wright answered.

The dispatcher asked what had happened to prompt the motorist to follow him.

“Nothing happened before that,” Wright said. “He just pulled up on us.”

The dispatcher told Wright he did not understand why he wouldn’t let the driver just pass him.

“He’s not going by. He’s following us,” Wright said. “He’s following us all over the highway!”

The passenger in Wright’s car, Emma Griffith, grew upset and twice told Wright to stop the car. Wright finally agreed to meet a police officer at the Waffle House in the 2600 block of Westinghouse Boulevard.

Soon afterward, conversation gave way to loud voices, sounds of a struggle and what appeared to be gunshots.

Wright was no longer audible, and Emma Griffith’s screams turned into sobbing.

“Oh my God,” she cried. “What you do that for?”

An Uber driver called 911 just before 3:05 a.m. to report that he was about to pull into the parking lot of the Waffle House to pick up a passenger when he heard gunfire coming from a burgundy-colored car.

“My passengers ran back inside, and I pulled around the building to get away,” the Uber driver told a dispatcher.

The driver said that the shooting happened between the BP gas station and the Waffle House, according to the 911 recording.

Emergency workers transported both shooting victims to WakeMed, where Wright died, police said.

The Griffiths lived in a ranch style brick home in the 800 block of Bunche Drive, according to a police incident report.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 7:07 AM with the headline "1 killed and 1 wounded in early morning shooting; suspect later kills himself."