SEATTLE — Four of the five suspects in a string of south Seattle home invasion robberies that mostly targeted Asian Americans made their first court appearance on Thursday, Sept. 28.
Seattle police said they've been investigating 14 incidents since June and made the arrests on Sept. 27. Most of the incidents involved the suspects accosting victims outside of their homes or even forcing their way inside of victims' homes.
Four adult male suspects range in age from 26 to 32. A judge found probable cause to hold each suspect on more than $1 million bail for crimes including robbery, burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm. Three of the suspects could also face hate crime charges.
A teenager was also arrested. and is being held in the King County juvenile detention facility.
KING 5 is not naming the suspects because they have not been officially charged.
During one of the home invasions, police said the suspects used a stun gun on a victim.
In another case, suspects pointed a gun at a 10-year-old.
It's unclear why the Asian American community were largely targeted in these crimes.
Connie So, a professor at University of Washington's American Ethics Studies Department, lives close to where the home invasions occurred and was grateful to hear about the arrests.
"At last. I think we all felt so much more relieved, and he hope that that's it."
However, she wonders why this would happen.
"What made people do something like this? Our area always felt was pretty safe and we got along pretty well. I just wonder what made people do this so we can make sure other people do not do these things."