“He said nothing”, said Hawley, who added that Cetin was unarmed and carrying a computer in a satchel when he was apprehended. “Just kind of zombie-like”.
Advertisement
A manhunt is under way in the USA state of Washington for a gunman who opened fire with a rifle in a shopping mall and killed five people before disappearing under the cover of darkness.
When officers approached him in Oak Harbor, he didn’t run. No identifications have been released as of Saturday night.
Earlier Saturday as police scrambled to find the shooter, the small city about 60 miles (97 kilometers) waited and anxious.
One of the victims was a 16-year-old girl.
“He was trying to go to the mall and people were screaming”, she said. The mall was evacuated at 6:30 p.m. Friday and police closed off the mall in an attempt to find the shooter, who had fled the scene by the time police were able to begin searching.
Witnesses of the arrest corroborated that the arrest was so calm it was hard to believe this was the man suspected of killing five people in cold blood a day earlier.
“We are devastated by the tragic events that occurred last night at Cascade Mall”, Macy’s said in a statement on its Facebook page Saturday.
Security camera footage showed the man entering the mall without a weapon. A news conference was set for Saturday night.
The rifle was later recovered at the mall, said Cammock, commander of the Skagit County Multi-Agency Response Team.
Washington State, sparked a major manhunt. The Rev. Cody Natland lit five candles on a table in front of the church, one for each victim.
“Washington State Patrol confirmed his capture in a tweet that said “#cascademallshooter is in custody”, while Washington State Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Mark Francis, tweeted “Gunman captured tonight by authorities”.
Relatives and friends of victims in a deadly mall shooting in Washington state have gathered at a church.
The suspect’s arrest capped a frantic search following the killings of five people the day before.
He said everyone was terrified.
A worker carries a stretcher at the Cascade Mall Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Burlington, Wash. The FBI said terrorism was not suspected.
The shooter walked into Macy’s and opened fire, KOMO reported.
Brandi Montreuil told CNN she was watching a movie at the mall when attendants suddenly told them to leave.
“She was a strong girl, she told me a lot about her life and I trusted her with everything”, the unnamed individual told the station.
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 after hearing about the shooting from an employee’s boyfriend.
“It’s too scary. It’s too close to home”, said Maria Elena Vasquez, who attended a gathering in a city park Saturday with her husband and two young children.
Burlington is a city of about 8,000 people about 60 miles north of Seattle.
Just one week ago, in a mall in Minnesota, one person stabbed nine people before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer, according to police. Mount Vernon Lt. Chris Cammock said he believes the initial descriptions came from shooting witnesses.
Cetin also faced charges in 2014 for domestic violence, and was ordered to stay away from his parents after a no-contact order was issued.
Four women and a man were shot.
The gunman remained at large.
A motive for the rampage remains unclear and Cetin, who is due to appear in court on Monday, has not been charged. A man was critically wounded in the shooting and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died. No identifications have been released.
While initially described as a Hispanic male, Centin is a resident of Oak Harbor originally from Adana, Turkey.
Advertisement
The other victims have not yet been identified.
