Security Guard at Hotel Shot to Death

An unarmed security guard at a Holiday Inn in San Diego was shot and killed early Saturday, apparently after he surprised a man acting as a lookout for a robbery, police said.

Glenn Avery, 67, of San Diego was found dead by police about 12:40 a.m. of a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

Avery was an employee of Burns International Security. Authorities believed he had been assigned to the Holiday Inn at 810 Aero Drive for about a week.

Police drew a sketchy portrait of the events that may have led to Avery’s death.

Bill Robinson, a San Diego police spokesman, said the incident began with the robbery of three men and a woman by several males at a house in the 4200 block of Caledonia St.

While one of the robbers watched over the three men, who were bound and gagged, two other suspects took the female to the Holiday Inn, where her boyfriend was staying. As one of the robbers apparently stood guard, the other robber took the woman to her boyfriend’s room, Robinson said.

The boyfriend was robbed at gunpoint of $1,000, Robinson said. He said police believe that, as the robbery was occurring, Avery came upon the lookout and was shot.