A manhunt was underway on Saturday in northwest Washington state for a gunman who opened fire with a rifle in a shopping mall and killed five people before disappearing under the cover of darkness, authorities said.
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Speaking at a news conference, Lieutenant Chris Cammock said security footage showed the suspect entered the mall without a weapon.
A suspect in the fatal shooting of five people at a Washington state mall was taken into custody on Saturday, Washington State Patrol spokesman Keith Leary said in a telephone interview.
Police recovered a rifle from the scene, Cammock said, but would not elaborate on its type or how many lines were fired. The FBI said terrorism was not suspected.
Authorities initially said four people had died in the shooting, but later revised the number to say that three women had been killed and one man was critically injured.
Four women were killed immediately, and a man taken from the scene by helicopter died in hospital in the early hours of Saturday. “I want everyone in the community to know, we’ll get beyond this”.
People fled, customers hid in dressing rooms and employees locked the doors of nearby stores after gunshots rang out just after 7 p.m. Friday at the Cascade Mall.
The FBI said on Twitter that it is assisting with intelligence review and manpower and adds that it “has no information to suggest additional attacks planned in WA state”.
Law enforcement investigate a deadly shooting in the Macy’s store at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., Friday, Sept. 23, 2016.
The shooting comes less than a week after a man stabbed nine people at a mall in the central Minnesota city of St. Cloud before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer.
Burlington is about 65 miles (105km) north of Seattle.
“There are people waking up this morning whose worlds are changed forever”, Mayor Steve Sexton told reporters Saturday.
Officials released a still from video surveillance of the suspect holding what appears to be a rifle.
She said she heard screaming as they were escorted out into the parking lot in Burlington. Evacuees were told they would be able to retrieve vehicles Saturday, though the mall said it would be closed for the day.
“Then I heard seven or eight or more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right”, she told the Herald. His age was not given and no identifications of the victims were released Police said they were looking for a man dressed in black and last seen walking toward Interstate 5.
Brandi Montreuil told CNN she was watching a movie at the mall when attendants suddenly told them to leave. “I don’t know what his motivation was to continue, I don’t know what his motivation was to stop, but I certainly intend to find out”.
Approximately 200 local and regional law enforcement officers from more than 26 agencies responded to the shooting Friday night to secure the scene and evacuate employees and patrons.
“I hear one shot and then stand kinda still and like two, three other people start running out saying “gun” and then shot after shot after shot”, said Armando Patino, who was working at a cell phone store.
It will also be open from noon until 5 “if you would like a space to hold up victims of the shooting this evening at the Cascade Mall, families impacted, and our Skagit Valley Community”.
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In a statement Friday night, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee urged residents “heed all safety and detour warnings”.
