The Starbucks Shooter

Waiting for News

It turned out that there were no usable fingerprints inside the shop, and aside from the shell casings, there was no other physical evidence. A bullet hole found over the safe suggested that a warning shot had been fired, possibly to get an employee to open it, but the safe had not been opened. Only Mahoney had the combination, so detectives surmised that she might have defied the robbers, and been killed as a result.

Logo: Georgetown Business Association

No one from the area had reported seeing anyone enter the store at closing time, or leaving later. FBI profilers who were consulted said that these killers would have prior offenses on their records. They suggested looking at other area armed robberies, but that effort turned up no clear leads to the Starbucks shooting. The Georgetown Business Association offered a reward of $10,000 for information, and Starbucks paid for the victims' funerals and for counseling for the families.

Homicide Lt. Brian McAllister

The homicide unit supervisor, Lt. Brian McAllister, insisted that with methodical police work the case would be closed. That meant it was going to take time. In fact, there was little news for several months, despite the concerns of residents and the families' need for closure. While investigators kept working, as each day passed, it seemed that the case was growing colder and, in a busy area like Washington, D.C., that it might eventually be shelved as low priority. But then something occurred that brought attention back to it.