In any event, having been told he would be hanged, Griffin struck the police officer, grabbed the officer's pistol, then fled. Griffin went into hiding, but angry white mobs were determined to locate him. By March 23, 1904, white mobs on horseback were accosting black citizens on sight, shooting those who resisted. Between sixty and seventy black men, women and children were driven from their homes and penned inside a warehouse. That night, members of the mob were intent on burning the warehouse with all inside. Some mob members began to argue to spare the lives of certain black persons who they personally knew, then other mob members began arguing for caution, believing the thing had gone too far.