'Slay witnesses' assassinated after leaving club

Cops looking to interview a pair of ex-cons who may have witnessed two Brooklyn homicides were beaten to the punch yesterday by mystery assassins who blew the men away in the upscale Flatiron District, authorities said.

Rashawn Washington, 26, and Terrance Serrano, 22, were whacked execution-style as they sat in a silver Mercury SUV at Broadway and East 19th Street just after they left the Roam Lounge, a nearby club.

The killers pulled up behind the SUV in a dark sedan at 3:40 a.m.

The two gunmen jumped out, drew their weapons and opened fire.

Brigitte Stelzer

EXECUTED: Cops remove the bodies of Rashawn Washington and Terrance Serrano from an SUV on 19th Street and Broadway, where they were shot dead yesterday.

 

A photo of one of the victims, Rashawn Washington

At least five bullets were fired at Washington and Serrano before the killers hopped back into their car and sped off, police said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said surveillance video shows two people near the SUV seconds before the murders, but not the actual shooting.

Serrano is believed to have been at the scene July 26, 2009, when his brother, 19-year-old Micuan Serrano, was found dead with multiple bullet wounds on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. Police suspect Terrance may have been the intended target.

Detectives said Washington may have witnessed the Aug. 2, 2009, shooting death of Anna Sermon, an 87-year-old killed by a stray bullet at the Surfside Houses, also in Coney Island.

She was hit when a thug opened fire at someone else at 5:40 p.m. One of the bullets struck Sermon in the neck as she was feeding cats.

The victims of the Flatiron shooting had extensive rap sheets of their own -- mostly involving drug and gun busts.

Washington had 11 arrests while Serrano had seven.

Detectives were also looking into the possibility that Washington and Serrano were killed for reasons unrelated to the Coney Island cases, which never were solved.

One source said yesterday's shootings may have followed a dispute the victims had gotten into earlier in the morning.

And they were investigating a report that Serrano was shot last week in Coney Island, sources said.

People in trendy Flatiron were stunned.

"It's crazy that it happened in this neighborhood," said a woman who was shopping last night in a nearby boutique.

Washington and Serrano had attended the "Showtime Sundays" party at Roam.

The show rotates among various downtown clubs, and one partygoer said that while Sunday night's event had been peaceful, others have been marred by gang fights, including at least one shooting.