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

SEATTLE — 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 if the suspects return to the area.

The robbery happened at about 6 p.m. 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!” the suspect wearing the black hoodie shouted 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 she 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.”

Another video clip shows the suspects leaving the salon 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 cellphones behind but took everyone’s car keys – leaving people stuck at the salon.

On Monday, the salon was stepping up security, changing their 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 the neighborhood felt safe two years ago.

“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 location for residents,” Le said.

Jenny Nguyen said she also wanted to share the video so the men could be identified.

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

No one was hurt during the armed robbery.

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

SPD said even 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 captain to determine if more resources are needed in an area.

Jenny Nguyen’s daughter has started a GoFundMe for the salon to help with costs of an improved security system, and to replace people’s car keys and locks. Click here if you’d like to help: https://gofund.me/2d99e808.

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