Man Arrested for Taking Hostages Inside South Seattle Business, Gun Recovered

Seattle Police arrested a man for taking hostages inside of a business in South Seattle Saturday morning.

On June 29th at 10:49 a.m., patrol officers responded to the 8400 block of Rainier Avenue South and located a masked man inside of a hair salon armed with a gun with hostages inside.

Officers determined the suspect drove here from California to confront his ex-girlfriend for leaving him some months ago. He took one of the victim's phones as she was asking for help and told the hostages he was going to kill everyone if they called police.

Police arrived and confronted the suspect. They negotiated his surrender, and he was taken into custody. None of the victims were harmed.

Officers recovered the handgun and seized it as evidence.

The 44-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail for Robbery, Harassment, Kidnapping, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and multiple counts of Assault and Unlawful Imprisonment.

Detectives in the Homicide & Assault Unit are investigating this case.