Couple finds loaded handgun inside an Uptown Charlotte hotel room
CHARLOTTE, NC — On a cross country trip from New York to Miami, Ruth Haephrati and her husband made a stop here in Charlotte. Staying at the Hyatt in Uptown. Minutes into their stay it became a vacation they won’t soon forget.
“While we were unpacking my husband opened one of the drawers, and he tells me there’s a Bible and what appears to be a gun in the drawer,” said Haephrati.
The loaded handgun was pointed at the hotel bible.
“We asked ourselves, is this normal? This is something that happens in hotels in the South,” Haephrati said.
The couple told the front desk. Haephrati says the hotel got a hold of the gun owner. The police were called and they took the loaded gun. She tells me the hotel did issue an apology but it was nearly 72 hours after the incident.
“If there were children involved, Β a child would go open the drawer and say, oh, a gun. He might think, you know, it’s a toy gun,” explained Haephrati.
Haephrati hopes this acts as a reminder to gun owners to be responsible enough to lock their guns away when traveling and to not assume your room is as it should be.
“As guests who travel don’t take it for granted that your room is inspected and clean and even in well respected hotels where you pay good money,” Haephrati said.
We reached out to Hyatt for comment but have not heard back.
