Sergeant Mark Francis of the Washington State Patrol tweeted a picture of the suspect, whom he named as Arcan Cetin, a resident of the city of Oak Harbor.
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Cetin is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Local and regional law enforcement from more than 26 agencies responded to the scene, with about 200 officers on site at the height of the incident.
Earlier Saturday as police scrambled to find the shooter, the small city about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Seattle waited and anxious. The FBI was assisting local authorities, but said there was no evidence pointing to terrorism.
Surveillance video provided by the Washington State Patrol shows the suspect in a shooting rampage at the Cascade Mall.
His Place Church, where survivors were reunited with their loved ones after the shooting, held a vigil for the victims Saturday.
No identities have been released yet, and a search for the gunman continued.
Four women were killed in the attack in the mall’s Macy’s store cosmetics department, Francis told the New York Times.
He said everyone was terrified.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images News/Getty ImagesBURLINGTON, WA – SEPTEMBER 24: Flowers were placed in front of an entrance to the Cascade Mall on September 24, 2016 in Burlington, Washington. The 95-year-old was with her daughter Belinda Galde at Macy’s at the time of the shooting. Cetin is originally from Turkey though he is now a US citizen. Dozens of panicked moviegoers gathered in the hallway, and Burkholder heard screaming as the officers escorted them to safety in a parking lot.
She said: “I’ve never been so terrified in my life”.
It was confirmed at 2am on Saturday that Sarai was among the five people killed.
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.
Authorities announced earlier that the suspect had been apprehended on Saturday evening.
Burlington is a city of about 8,000 people about 60 miles north of Seattle.
State authorities say they have arrested a suspect in the deadly shooting of five people, nearly 24 hours after a gunman opened fire in a crowded mall in small-town Burlington, Wash., on Friday evening. During his first visit, he was without a weapon, but later returned with a ‘hunting type’ rifle and began shooting at people.
Eleven search teams and two K-9 units were deployed to search the 434,000-square foot mall.
The Washington State Patrol had previously said on Twitter that four were shot.
The gunman remained at large.
The motive for the shooting at the shopping centre, about 60 miles north of Seattle, is unknown – but the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was no evidence pointing to terrorism.
There has been some speculation that as Molly was apparently his girlfriend (according to Cetin) at one stage, and as she worked at Macy’s, that she may be one of the victims.
In a press conference Saturday night, Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said the five victims did what any other Burlington resident could have done on a Friday night – they went to the mall.
The coroner’s office is identifying the victims and notifying their families before the names are released publicly. A news conference was scheduled for later Saturday night.
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Skagit County coroner Hayley Thompson said she had not yet gained access to the scene to start identifying the victims.
