Police hunt man who killed five at the makeup counter of Macy’s

POLICE in Washington state were last night hunting for a gunman who opened fire at the makeup counter of a Macy’s department store, killing five people.

Reports that the gunman shouted a woman’s name repeatedly before opening fire could not be confirmed by the police, who described the suspect as possibly Hispanic and being in his late teens or early twenties.

He was captured on camera entering the mall in Burlington, 65 miles north of Seattle, at around 7pm on Friday without a gun. But security footage from Macy’s showed him 10 minutes later entering the shop with a rifle.

Police refused to comment on the suggestion that this indicated a planned attack.

Four women were killed immediately, and a man taken from the scene by helicopter died in hospital in the early hours of yesterday. The victims were aged from “teen to senior”, police said.

“The lives of those families have changed forever,” said Steve Sexton, mayor of Burlington.

“The city of Burlington has probably changed forever. But I don’t think our way of life needs to change. “This was a senseless act. “And our community comes together in times of tragedy. I want everyone in the community to know, we’ll get beyond this.”

Chris Cammock, from Mount Vernon police, said he had no idea if the gunman was still in the local area, but they were not searching for anyone else. The FBI does not believe the attack is terrorism.

“We’ve been getting a number of tips and leads in, but we do not have an identity on the individual yet, and could benefit from the community’s help,” he said yesterday.

“Probably one of the most difficult moments for us [on Friday] night was knowing that there were family members out there, and we had to clear the mall.

“At the same time we have to be able to reconstruct this crime scene in a way that when we bring this individual to justice, there is a fair and transparent case. We want to make sure we are careful, cautious and thorough.”