Suspect in Washington mall shooting in custody
BURLINGTON, Wash. — A suspect is in custody in the fatal shooting of five people at a mall in a rural town in western Washington, state police said late Saturday.
The suspect was not immediately identified. 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.
The Washington State Patrol tweeted, “#cascademallshooter is in custody.”
Four women died at the scene of the shooting, and a man died from his wounds after being rushed to Skagit Valley Hospital. Police said the ages of the victims ranged from a teenager to a senior citizen.
Hayley Thompson, the Skagit County coroner, said the victims would be identified only after she examines their bodies at the hospital.
But one victim was identified by family members as 16-year-old Sarai Lara, a high school student who had survived cancer as a young girl. Her sister, Evangelina Lara, told the Seattle Times the teenager had been pronounced dead by police at 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
The fifth mass shooting in Washington this year sent shoppers running out of the mall and plunged a small town into grief.
Burlington sits between Seattle and Vancouver, Canada, near the border. Its population is about 8,500 — 62 percent white, 29 percent Hispanic — and the median household income is significantly lower than the state average. The nearest city is Mount Vernon.
“There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever,” Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said at a news conference. “This was a senseless act. It was the world knocking on our doorstep, and it came to our little community here.”
Mr. Sexton said he was aching for the moment when authorities “bring this [killer] to justice.”
An FBI spokesman said Saturday that although the bureau could not rule out terrorism as a motive for the shooting, there was no evidence to suggest that it was.
Oscar Garcia, a resident of Mount Vernon, said the youngest victim was a 15year-old girl who was in the makeup department of Macy’s with her mother when the gunman approached.
Police did not confirm that account. Mr. Garcia, who described himself as a family friend of about four years, said he spoke with the father. “He’s devastated,” Mr. Garcia said of his friend. “When I talked to him, he was waiting to go see his daughter.” The girl attended Conway Middle School and is thought to be the youngest victim.
Burlington residents gathered at a local park to pray and honor the victims.