FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (KING) – Seventy-three minutes – that’s all it took from the moment the FBI added a man accused of killing two Washington state bar employees to its “Ten Most Wanted” list to when agents arrested him in Mexico. It’s the fastest capture in agency history.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Thursday that 33-year-old Samuel Ramirez Jr. was arrested in Mexico after nearly three years on the run. The suspect has been returned to Seattle to face charges in a 2023 shooting outside the Stars Bar and Grill in Federal Way, Washington.
Samuel Ramirez Jr., who was arrested in Mexico, has been returned to the United States to face charges in a 2023 shooting outside a bar that killed two employees and injured a customer.(Source: FBI)
The shooting killed two bar employees, 37-year-old Katie Duhnke and 36-year-old Jessyca Hohn, and left a 25-year-old customer injured. For the victims’ family and friends, Ramirez’s arrest comes as a relief.
“All it takes is one person with a gun to just totally destroy things,” said Teena Nelson, the owner of Stars Bar and Grill. “I loved having them here.”
Nelson says Duhnke lit up every room she entered, and Hohn was good to people and kind. Both women were working a shift in May 2023 when Ramirez stepped through the door.
“He came in. He had fun. He was interacting with a lot of people,” Nelson said.
Then, in the parking lot, investigators say there was a dispute, and Ramirez hit one of the women. A customer who witnessed the incident tackled the suspect to the ground and punched him.
Katie Duhnke, 37, and Jessyca Hohn, 36, were killed in a May 2023 shooting outside the bar where they worked.(Source: Facebook/KatieDuhnke, KING via CNN)
Court documents say Ramirez told the man he was done fighting. The customer backed off, and that’s when the suspect reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun. He allegedly shot and killed both Dunhke and Hohn then fired at the customer.
“He was shot at nine times, and luckily, only one bullet hit him and it was in the arm,” Nelson said.
Investigators say Ramirez fled, but Nelson refused to let anyone forget what happened.
“I want the word out there. I want people to see his picture. I want the story to be out there,” she said.
On Tuesday, the FBI added Ramirez to its “Ten Most Wanted” list and offered up to $1 million for information. Just 73 minutes later, they caught him in Mexico.
“I am so happy. My prayers have been answered – finally,” Nelson said.
She says now it’s time to get justice for Duhnke and Hohn.
“They did not deserve that, and he doesn’t deserve to be out there living the life. He needs to pay for what he did. He needs to man up,” she said.
Ramirez will face a judge in King County Superior Court within the next two weeks.
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