Atmosphere different at Sioux Falls hair salon

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A Sioux Falls hair salon that was the site of a deadly hostage situation has taken steps to make employees feel more comfortable, and to remember the woman who was killed.

A picture of former manager Amanda Connors now hangs in the back room of the Cost Cutters, and another picture of her is at her chair, surrounded by flowers.

"If you ask (Connors' co-workers) they will all say they feel like they're a family here, and losing Amanda, they really felt like they lost a sister," Kaylee Spolum, the general manager of three Cost Cutters salons in Sioux Falls, told KDLT-TV (http://bit.ly/P5drYI ).

Police say Tyrone Smith shot and killed Connors Sept. 11 before locking himself in the store, ordering his girlfriend and her co-workers to the back and tying them up. Smith let the four workers go a half hour later, then shot and killed himself, according to authorities. Connors was killed trying to protect Smith's girlfriend, they said.

"I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it. I mean, this is Sioux Falls you know," Spolum said. "We really didn't know what to think. We didn't know if any of the girls would be willing to come back, and we didn't know if we would have a shop at all."

Spolum said she made changes to the atmosphere inside the salon.

"I actually changed the whole back room up and just did some things so it just felt different and looked different, and hung different pictures and different things just so it would feel different in there," she said.

Employees are being offered counseling. They also will be meeting with police to learn about what to do if they ever are faced with another emergency situation. Hairstylist Alissa Doom said help also has come in another area.

"Our customers have been really supportive and really amazing this past week, great," she said. "And we're just taking one day at a time."

Spolum said there is only so much anyone can do.

"It's sad," she said. "You know it will never be the same."

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