A bus transported survivors to a nearby church as authorities warned people to stay indoors and avoid the mall area.
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Washington state police officials said on Twitter that authorities would provide further details at a news conference.
He had been arrested once before in the county for simple assault, authorities said.
Francis says it wasn’t immediately known if there was more than one gunman involved.
Lt. Chris Cammock of the Mt. Vernon Police Department, said that investigators were able to identify a suspect auto from surveillance footage.
The FBI said they see no indications of terrorism in the attack, although the investigation is in its preliminary phase and no suspect has yet been arrested. Later a man who was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries died, Francis said in a statement early on Saturday morning. Some people were still possibly holed up in the mall, which was declared clear several hours later.
One woman, Tari Caswell, told the Skagit Valley Herald that she had been in the Macy’s women’s dressing room when she heard four loud pops followed by seven of eight more. And it got very quiet. He said he saw a man pointing a hunting-like gun to people, he got up amazed and got a little closer to see what was happening, and later the gunman saw him, and he ran away as fast as he could.
The shooter walked into Macy’s and opened fire, KOMO reported.
At a vigil held for the victims Saturday morning in Burlington’s Maiben Park, Kelly Couture, who exited the mall through a Target store as the chaos was unfolding, told The Seattle Times there were “just sirens and people were yelling and running out of the building”.
Law enforcement officers responding to the shooting locked down the mall and searched it thoroughly, but later found out that the suspect had fled prior to their arrival, police said, adding that they had recovered the suspected weapon.
Officers using K-9 units searched the 434,000-square feet mall throughout the night, including in secure rooms, authorities said.
“Our hearts are in Burlington”, Governor Jay Inslee said on Twitter.
“We urge residents to heed all safety and detour warnings”.
BURLINGTON, Wash. (AP) – The Latest on a fatal shooting at a mall in Washington state (all times local): 10:30 a.m. It features J.C. Penney, TJ Maxx, and Macy’s stores, among other stores, restaurants and a movie theatre. Authorities say Dahir Ahmed Adan, 20, stabbed the people at the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
A large tent is set up for enforcement officials in the parking lot of the Cascade Mall on September 24, 2016 in Burlington, Washington.
The suspect “fired multiple times, struck four females ranging in age from a teenager to seniors”, said Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock, commander of the Skagit County Multi-Agency Response Team.
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A State Patrol spokesman says officers are searching for the gunman, who was last seen walking toward I-5 from the mall.
