Suspected shooter arrested
Motive in attack at Macy’s north of Seattle not known
Authorities arrested a man Saturday night in connection with the shooting at a mall in Burlington, Wash., that left five people dead.
Washington State Patrol identified the suspect as Arcan Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor, Wash. Cetin was taken into custody at around 7 p. m. PT in Oak Harbor, about 29 miles southwest of Burlington.
Further details about the arrest were not immediately available. A news conference was planned for later Saturday.
Police had been searching for a gunman dressed in black who fled on foot toward an interstate highway after opening fire Friday night in the makeup department at a Macy’s store in Burlington, Wash., killing five people.
Initial surveillance footage from the Cascade Mall showed the suspect entering the building late Friday without a weapon but walking into Macy’s about 10 minutes later carrying a “hunting- style” a rifle, police said.
The suspect, described as in his teens or early 20s, went into the store’s makeup area where he shot four women and a man, Lt. Chris Cammock of the Mount Vernon Police Department said at a news conference.
He then left on foot, out of range of cameras. The four female victims died at the scene and the male victim died later at a hospital.
Washington State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Francis said authorities believe that there was only one shooter but that his motive was not immediately known. It was also unclear whether the victims were specifically targeted.
Skagit County authorities in Burlington, about 65 miles north of Seattle, used 11 search teams and two K- 9 units to clear the 434,000- square- foot mall, going shop by shop, but warned the situation remained volatile.
“We are still actively looking for the shooter,” Francis said at a news confer- ence. “Stay indoors, stay secure.”
Authorities distributed blurry photos of the suspect online and appealed to the public for help in identifying him.
Stephanie Bose, assistant general manager at Johnny Carino’s Italian restaurant near the Macy’s store, said she immediately locked the doors to the restaurant after hearing about the shooting from an employee’s boyfriend.
“He was trying to go to the mall and people were screaming,” she told the Associated Press. “It was frantic.”
Police later searched the Cascade Mall and confirmed the four deaths, Francis said. The fifth victim died later at the Harborview Medical Center.
The FBI is assisting local law enforcement in the investigation and said it has no information to suggest additional attacks are planned in the state.
Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement late Friday night expressing his condolences and prayers to those affected by the shootings.
“Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight,” Inslee wrote on Twitter. “Trudi and I send our condolences to the families of the victims and prayers for anyone injured. Stay close to friends and loved ones as we await more information and, hopefully, news of the suspect’s capture.”
The Cascade Mall is an enclosed shopping mall that opened in 1990, according to the mall’s website. It features J. C. Penney, TJ Maxx, and Macy’s, among other stores, restaurants and a movie theater.
Joe Zavala of Blaine, Wash., was sitting outside Macy’s drinking a cup of coffee when he heard about eight or nine shots fired.
“Then I saw a man pointing a gun and shooting people,” Zavala said. “And then I got up to look a little closer and he saw me, pointed the gun, and I took off running.”
After the shots stopped, Zavala went back into the Macy’s to search for his wife. Zavala saw people lying on the floor, including two elderly women. Another woman was helping an injured person behind the cosmetics counter. A rifle was sitting on the counter.
“It all happened so fast,” said Zavala, who found his wife inside a fitting room. “At first I didn’t believe it. I didn’t believe what I was hearing. I felt helpless, because I couldn’t do anything.”
Tari Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald she was inside a Macy’s dressing room and heard “what sounded like four balloons popping.”
“Then I heard seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right,” Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald. “And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store.”