Police say mall gunman in custody

Washington city’s mayor decries ‘senseless act’; death toll rises to five

BURLINGTON, Wash. — The suspect in a shooting at a Washington state mall that left five dead and sparked an intensive, nearly 24-hour manhunt is in custody, authorities said Saturday.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mark Francis identified the suspect via Twitter as 20-year-old Arcan Cetin of Oak Harbor, Wash.

Earlier Saturday, police circulated several images from a surveillance camera showing a man with dark hair in a black, short-sleeved shirt, shorts and shoes entering the Cascade Mall in Burlington empty-handed on Friday evening, then later brandishing a rifle in a Macy’s department store.

By the time police arrived moments later, four women were dead, and the shooter was gone, last seen walking toward Interstate 5. A fifth victim, a man, died in the early morning hours Saturday as police finished sweeping the 434,000-square-foot building about 60 miles north of Seattle.

“There are people waking up this morning and their world has changed forever,” Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said. “This was a senseless act. It was the world knocking on our doorstep, and it came to our little community here.”

The mayor added that authorities would come together “to bring this son of a b***h to justice.”

Authorities did not say how the suspect may have obtained the rifle — whether he retrieved it from outside or picked it up in the mall — but they believe he acted alone. The weapon was recovered at the scene.

Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock described the gun as a “hunting-type” rifle but would not elaborate on how many rounds were fired.

The identities of the victims — four women who ranged in age from 16 to a senior — were withheld pending autopsies and notification of family. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld.

“Probably one of the most difficult moments for us last night was knowing that there were family members wondering about their loved ones in there,” Cammock said.

It took 11 search teams and two K-9 teams several hours to clear and secure the mall Friday night, according to Washington State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Francis. Authorities said they spent over an hour interviewing more than 20 witnesses at the mall.

The community of 8,600 people is too far from Seattle to be a commuter town, but its population swells to 55,000 during the day because of a popular outlet mall, retail stores and other businesses. Burlington is the only major retail center within 30 miles in a region where agriculture is king, said Linda Jones, president of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.

Residents gathered Saturday to comfort each other at a community gathering in a city park.

“It’s too scary. It’s too close to home,” said Maria Elena Vasquez, who attended the gathering with her husband and two young children.

Tari Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald that she was in a women’s dressing room at Macy’s when she heard “what sounded like four balloons popping, and I thought that was strange because I hadn’t seen any balloons.”

“Then I heard seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right,” Caswell said. “And it got very quiet. 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.”

Joanne Burkholder, 19, of nearby Mount Vernon, was watching The Magnificent Seven in the mall’s theater when security guards came in and told them to evacuate immediately. Dozens of panicked moviegoers gathered in the hallway, and Burkholder heard screaming as the officers escorted them to safety in a parking lot.

As she drove home later, she had to pull over because she was shaking so hard, she told The Associated Press.

“I’m just very thankful for my life this morning. I’ve never been so terrified in my life,” she said Saturday, trying to hold back tears as she attended the community vigil.

“You’d think it would happen in Everett or Seattle, but a small town of Burlington, I’d never dream something like this would happen,” she said.

People who believed they may have lost loved ones were being sequestered at a church three blocks from the mall, where counselors and a golden retriever therapy dog were present.

The Seattle Times reported Saturday that the 16-year-old victim was Sarai Lara. Her mother, Evangelina Lara, says it was confirmed at 2 a.m. Saturday that her daughter was among the five people killed.

Evangelina Lara, who described Sarai as a happy student, told the newspaper through a translator that she was shopping Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., with Sarai and her younger sister, but they split up.

Dozens of people attended a Saturday evening prayer service for the victims. The gathering was held at Central United Methodist Church in nearby Sedro-Woolley, Wash.

The Rev. Cody Natland lit five candles on a table in front of the church, one for each victim.

“Probably one of the most difficult moments for us last night was knowing that there were family members wondering about their loved ones in there.”

— Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock