Suspect In Fatal Mall Shooting Captured In Washington State

A 20-year-old man was taken into custody Saturday evening in connection with a shooting Friday night that killed five people at a mall in Burlington, Wash.

KOMO-TV in Seattle reports the suspect was found walking along a road by an Island County Sheriff’s deputy, who arrested him.

KOMO, citing law enforcement sources, has tweeted the suspect as Arcan Cetin. State records show he has no criminal history.

The shooting, which began Friday around 7 p.m. Pacific TIme, occurred at the Macy’s store in the Cascade Mall in Burlington, about 65 miles north of Seattle.

According to the Associated Press, people tried running and hiding immediately after hearing the shots while employees locked doors of the neighboring stores in which they were working.

Sgt. Mark Francis, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, released a photo of the suspect.

OFFICIAL: Here is a DOL photo of the suspect: Arcan Cetin, 20-yr-old Oak Harbor resident. pic.twitter.com/fypj6aBBJ2

— Sgt. Mark Francis (@wspd7pio) September 25, 2016

The victims were initially identified as four females and one male. The shooter’s motives are currently unknown.

Authorities evacuated the mall Friday night and survivors were taken by bus to a nearby church.

Numerous cars were left behind in the parking lot and people in the area were instructed to stay inside and stay away from the mall area, according to Francis.

Washington State Trooper Rick Johnson told CNN that police had received tips claiming the suspect was hiding and waiting to head out to the freeway.

Terri Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald that she was in the Macy’s women’s dressing room when she 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. 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,” Caswell told the newspaper.

Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino’s Italian restaurant near the Macy’s store at the mall, 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.”

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