Family, friends grieving bartenders allegedly murdered by disgruntled customer in Federal Way

Family and friends are grieving for two bartenders who were shot and killed outside the Federal Way bar where they both worked.

Now they are appealing to anyone who knows the killer to turn him in.

The shooting outside the Stars Bar & Grill is deeply affecting customers, fellow bartenders, and family members of the women killed.

Police say a disgruntled customer ambushed the women as they left work at the bar early Sunday morning.

It appears that the police know something about him. But that killer is still on the loose.

And that is what is so upsetting to those who knew and loved these two women.

They were roommates as well as coworkers. They were always together, we are told, in life and now in death.

“Me and Jessyca worked Friday night,” said Tara, as she wiped away tears. “And Katie’s always here when Jessyca’s working because they’re best friends and they lived together.”

The tears come easily for these friends who formed a bond bartending at the Stars Bar & Grill with 37-year-old Katie Duhnke and Jessyca Hohn, a single mother of a teenage boy.

“And I just remember at the end of the night after having a great night like we always do on Fridays,” Tara said. “We had fun. We wore matching outfits. We were matching green that day.”

Twenty-four hours later, they were both dead.

“And I was in shock,” she said through tears. “I am still in shock. I go from bouts of crying, to numb. It’s horrible.”

That horror has been felt since early Sunday morning. Federal Way police say they believe a customer who was upset waited for Duhnke and Hohn to leave work, then shot and killed them in the parking lot. Another male customer was shot, too. But he survived.

“A message to the person?” asked Robert Duhnke, his voice breaking. “You stole from us.”

Duhnke says he and his daughter were estranged for about a dozen years. But he had prayed they would reconcile; that he would be able to give her a keepsake of photographs he has been saving. He will never get that chance now.

“So, to him, boy, I don’t want vengeance,” Duhnke said. “I don’t want hate. I want love. We’re accountable for what we do. And I think we will all stand before God and be accountable for those actions.”

Her friends have a message for those who were in Stars bar Saturday night.

“You know me,” said Dani MacReady, the bar’s manager. “You love me. We all loved Katie. Please, I’m asking you, please do not be afraid to call the police.”

This has really hit the community of bartenders here hard.

They say this is the third shooting at a Federal Way bar so far this year. Indeed, many local bars closed early last night in honor of the women killed here.

Now they are asking the killer or those who know him to come forward. They want him caught.

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