2 bartenders shot dead confronting customer about gun, WA cops say. Suspect identified
Two bartenders were shot dead outside a bar in Washington after confronting a customer about his gun, police said.
Now police have identified the shooting suspect as 31-year-old Samuel Ramirez Jr. and issued a warrant for his arrest, according to charging documents.
Ramirez is accused of shooting bartenders Katie Duhnke and Jessyca Hohn and a customer at about 3:30 a.m. May 21 outside Stars Bar & Grill in Federal Way, the city’s police department said in a probable cause statement.
Before the shooting, a customer told the two bartenders Ramirez had a gun, police said.
This led the women to confront Ramirez about his gun in the parking lot, police said.
During the confrontation, Ramirez is accused of hitting one of the women, so a customer pushed him and tackled him to the ground, police said.
Police said the customer held Ramirez down until he said he was “done fighting.”
But that’s when Ramirez pulled out a gun and shot the two women and then the customer as he ran off, police said.
Duhnke and Hohn died at the bar, and police said the customer was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm.
The King County District Attorney’s Office charged Ramirez with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and attempted murder.
Police do not know where he is but said cellphone records indicate he left Washington.
The two women were roommates and friends known for their “huge hearts,” the Kent Reporter reported.
“They were so loved,” Stars Bar & Grill manager Danielle Macready told the news outlet. “They were known.”
Federal Way is about 25 miles south of Seattle.
This story was originally published June 2, 2023 at 4:27 PM with the headline "2 bartenders shot dead confronting customer about gun, WA cops say. Suspect identified."
