On the morning of March 11, 1997, 77-year-old Stanley Hays was taken hostage outside a Comerica bank branch on Detroit’s northeast side. The hostage situation followed a rampage by 21-year-old Allen Lane Griffin Jr., who had wounded a police recruit applicant, stolen a car, and entered the bank armed with a 12-gauge pump shotgun.

Inside the bank Griffin shot and killed employee James Isom, 25, and bank manager Stanley Pijanowski III, 52, and wounded the assistant branch manager. As Griffin exited, Hays approached despite police orders and was dragged into a nearby alley, where Griffin fired at police and fatally shot Hays in the head. Police returned fire and killed Griffin at the scene.

Investigators reported Griffin acted alone; he had been distraught over a failed marriage, had a history of drug problems, and was wanted on a probation violation from a prior drug conviction. Does anyone have memories of that day or information about Stanley Hays and his life in Detroit?