Light Rail riders robbed at gunpoint after getting off train: 'I was scared ... I was in tears,' girl says

SEATTLE -- A young woman and her 13-year-old sister on Wednesday recounted their terrifying ordeal when they were confronted by armed men after they got off the Light Rail at the Columbia City station.

Mistyleene, 20, and her younger sister, Edgiemeh, 13, are still scared by what happened Tuesday night and asked that their last name not be used.

It was a little after 10 p.m. when they had gotten off at the station and were starting to walk home.

Mistyleene spotted a couple of men on the sidewalk.

“When I looked at them walking and saw one of them trying to hide behind the fence, I was, like, something's not right,” said Mistyleene. “Something’s going on.”

But before she could do anything, the men started running toward them.

“They stopped in front of us, took out a gun and was like, 'Give me everything you have' and snatched my purse.”

“I was scared, just to be there,” added Edgiemeh. “I was in tears.”

The men took the girls’ phones and wallets, then ran up Dawson Street and tried to rob another man who had just gotten off the train.

“I saw them point the gun towards his face,” said Edgiemeh. “I tried to run across the street to get the plate number, but they got away too fast.”

The girls don’t know if the men had been on the same Light Rail train  or were just waiting for people to get off at the station.  But thieves have been targeting riders lately.

A thief was caught on surveillance video pulling a victim down to the ground and snatching his smart phone. A similar crime happened on another train just two days later.

Mistyleene and Edgiemeh didn’t try to fight their robbers. But the emotional struggle may take some recovery time.

“Especially since I have to go to work on the train and come home on the train,” said Mistyleene. “I don't think I’ll feel safe coming home."

“I have a different perspective on walking at night now,” added Edgiemeh. “It’s just so scary at walking at 10 p.m.”

The two suspects were described as black, between 16 and 20 years old, 5-foot-11 to 5-foot-4, wearing hoodies and T-shirts pulled up over their faces. They got away in a silver or gray VW sedan.

If you have any information that could help detectives, you’re asked to contact Seattle police.