Man pleads guilty to shooting 2 officers, 4 other people at Gastonia club

GASTONIA, N.C. — A man pleaded guilty on Friday to shooting several people, including two officers, at a nightclub in Gastonia.

The six were shot on Nov. 12, 2020 at what used to be Remedies Restaurant and Nightclub on Union Road.

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Gastonia Police Department Sgt. Eric Nelson and Cpl. Mike Lewis, off-duty officers who were hired to provide security, were trying to de-escalate a fight. Investigators said that’s when Allen Slaughter fired nine shots into a crowd.

One shot hit Cpl. Lewis in the back but his bulletproof vest stopped it. It was far worse for Sgt. Nelson, who was forced to retire due to his injuries.

None of the four other victims, all bystanders, were seriously hurt.

Detectives charged Alonzo Lewis Hamilton and Allen Slaughter with six counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon. Slaughter was given a $1.5 million bond.

Alonzo Lewis Hamilton and Allen Slaughter Alonzo Lewis Hamilton and Allen Slaughter (WSOC)

Prosecutors said several witnesses saw Slaughter fire a gun and that his DNA was found on the weapon. They said there was little doubt that he was the shooter.

On Friday, Slaughter pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He apologized after accepting the plea.

“I apologize to both of the officers,” Slaughter said.

The former Cpl. Nelson told a judge Friday that he is unable to play with his children because the shooting wounded his body and punctured his spirit.

“I no longer can be the father they deserve in many aspects,” he said.

Nelson was shot in the leg and foot that night.

“When [Slaughter] pulled that trigger, he robbed myself and the citizens of Gastonia,” he said.

Nelson had multiple surgeries and had to learn to walk again after each one. He walked into court with fellow officers Friday, but doctors said that could change.

“The probable and eventual amputation of my left leg below the knee,” Nelson said, adding, “I have no anger or ill will towards Mr. Slaughter because that gives what he did power.”

Slaughter will spend 20 years behind bars for the crimes. His attorney said Slaughter started a nonprofit group trying help others avoid the mistakes he made.

He wanted to apologize on his own.

“I encourage both officers to protect and serve the community and keep the community safe,” he said.

The county district attorney gave Remedies Nightclub a warning letter in Nov. 2020, saying the Gastonia business was a public nuisance. Channel 9 discovered police were called to the club 201 times in the two years prior to the shooting.

North Carolina’s ABC Commission issued an alcohol suspension order as well, mentioning the shooting and also a pattern of problems at the nightclub, including how Gastonia officers were routinely there around closing time because fights broke out.

Lewis is still on the force. Slaughter’s co-defendant, Hamilton, is in a hospital with mental health issues. He was recently deemed unfit to stand trial.

Both officers are suing the owner of Remedies. That case is currently in mediation.

(‘It’s heartbreaking’: 6 people shot, including 2 police officers, at Gastonia club)