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“Scream” masked suspects rob Seattle salon and customers at gunpoint

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Three suspects all wearing “Scream” Halloween masks robbed a Seattle salon at gunpoint on Sunday.

Surveillance video shows the suspects robbed all the customers too.

Now the owner of King Way Hair Salon is speaking out, saying she wants to share the video to warn other businesses in case the suspects return to the area.

The robbery happened at about 6pm on Sunday in the 6700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way S in South Seattle.

Salon owner Jenny Nguyen says she was washing a customer’s hair when she noticed men in the Scream masks outside the salon.

“I told my friend in here, look at outside, they look so scary with the Halloween masks on,” Nguyen said.

Then all three walked into the salon from the back door. At least one suspect immediately pulled out a pistol from his hoodie pocket.

“Nobody move, nobody move!” you hear the suspect wearing the black hoodie shout in the video. Nguyen said all three suspects were men.

“Drop your purses! Money, money, where’s the money!” the man in the black hoodie shouted.

“He said where you put the money, go get it right now. And he had his gun pointed to me,” Nguyen said.

She said was forced to get the cash register and more money from a back room that another suspect had already discovered.

The surveillance video also shows the suspects robbing customers at gunpoint too.

“Give me your purse, give me your purse!” one suspect shouts.

“It’s too scary, I’m still shaking right now thinking about it, I’m still shaking,” Nguyen said. “And I feel bad for my customers too,” she said.

Another video clip shows the suspects leaving the salon, each with purses and bags in hand. Nguyen said there was a getaway car waiting for them, and they sped off.

She said the suspects left people’s cell phones behind, but took everyone’s car keys – leaving people stuck at the salon.

On Monday, the salon was stepping security, changing out doors and locks.

“We are very, very scared, will they come back? I don’t know,” said Amy Nguyen, a stylist.

A customer at the salon on Monday, Tammy Le, owns a bakery nearby. She said two years ago, the neighborhood felt safe.

“It was very fun around here. But not now,” Le said.

She’s hoping for more police patrols in the area.

“Just one wish - make it a more safe for location for residents,” Le said.

Nguyen said she also wanted to share the video in case you recognize who the men are.

“We work hard all day and they come and they took everything,” Nguyen said.

No one was hurt during the armed robbery.

Crime stats for the South Seattle precinct show crime overall is up for the area compared monthly SPD responses for both 2020 and 2019.

SPD said with the staffing shortage, they currently do have “the minimum amount of officers needed to patrol each precinct in the city,” and added it is up to a precinct caption to determine if more resources are needed in an area.

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