Greensboro moves to shut down Studio 6 after violent incidents, drug activity

Greensboro officials moved Tuesday to shut down Studio 6 at 2000 Veasley St. after court records tied the motel to a string of violent incidents, robberies and drug activity that city lawyers said made the property a continuing public-safety threat. A Guilford County Superior Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the hotel from taking in new guests while the nuisance-abatement case moves forward.

The city’s filing said the property “poses an imminent risk to public morals, health, safety, and welfare.” It named Narayan Greensboro Hotel, LLC as the owner, and said police had been repeatedly called to the site over several months for shootings, stabbings, robberies, prostitution and felony narcotics activity. City officials said 64 of the 128 rooms were occupied when the order was delivered, and 20 rooms checked out that day, underscoring that the closure did not immediately empty the building.

The incidents cited in the complaint included an officer-involved shooting on Feb. 21, 2026, when officers tried to arrest a wanted suspect leaving the property and he fired at them. Police returned fire and struck him. The same day, a separate stabbing left a victim with a deep hand laceration. Other episodes listed in the filing included a March 18 stabbing, a Jan. 31 armed robbery and beating, a Jan. 22 robbery and sexual assault in the parking lot, and a Feb. 8 overdose death, when officers found a man unresponsive on a stairwell and later found needles, sterile water and fentanyl test strips in his bag.

Greensboro police later identified the Feb. 15 shooting suspect as 59-year-old Oliver Wendell Watlington. He was charged with assault on a law-enforcement officer with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, sexual battery, assault on a female, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and interfering with emergency communications. One officer was injured but later released.

More than 50 Greensboro police officers and five North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement agents were present when the order was delivered, and city staff conducted an inventory of the property to document occupants. Assistant City Manager Andrea Harrell said the city wanted to close the motel without immediately forcing every resident out at once. The Greensboro Home Team was also helping residents look for other housing.

The move follows another nuisance-abatement case on the same corridor. Greensboro won a temporary restraining order against the Howard Johnson at 2004 Veasley St. in October 2025, and a judge entered a final order of abatement in December. That case involved felony narcotics trafficking, prostitution, violence and fire-safety problems, including inoperative smoke detectors, faulty wiring and unsecured gas lines.