Authorities said they are investigating the attack by Dahir Ahmed Adan as a possible act of terrorism.
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The New York Times reports that the unidentified shooter killed four women in the cosmetics department of Macy’s at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash.
At a news conference, police said Arcan Cetin had been identified as a suspect after a vehicle connected to him was seen on security camera footage at the shopping centre.
Cetin had not been formally charged in connection with the killings Friday night at Macy’s inside the mall. “I did an abrupt U-turn, I hit my lights, pulled my gun, and myself and reserve deputy Eric Rombah took the individual into custody”, said Lt. Michael Hawley, Island County Sheriff’s Office. Chris Cammock said Cetin is a “legal, permanent resident” of Oak Harbor, Wash.
She said he could see police at the doors with assault rifles and said they were no longer guarding the doors as of 9:30 p.m.
According to CBS affiliate KIRO, that Skagit County court records show three domestic-violence assault charges against Cetin.
At a press conference Saturday night, Lt. Mike Hawley with the Island County Sheriff’s Office said Cetin was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. after his auto was spotted by Oak Harbor Police Department officers.
Sgt. Mark Francis says authorities are searching for a man wearing gray who was last seen walking toward Interstate 5. The newspaper reports Cetin also was arrested for drunk-driving.
Authorities in suburban Seattle identified another victim as Belinda Galde, 64, a probation officer with the Snohomish County District Court.
“Island County District Court records show that Cetin was told by a judge on December 29 that he was not to possess a firearm”. Francis said the number fluctuated as authorities searched the large Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington.
Oak Harbor is a city of 22,000 on Whidbey Island with many military families associated with the nearby Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. “Our hearts are in Burlington where a shooter has taken the lives of at least four people”. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld and may not be released until Monday.
Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton called the shooting a “devastating loss” of five treasured members of the small community.
“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.
“He was trying to go to the mall and people were screaming”, she told The Associated Press.
The community of 8,600 people is too far from Seattle to be a commuter town, but its population swells to 55,000 during the day because of a popular outlet mall, retail stores and other businesses. After reviewing security footage from outside the mall, police were able to identify his vehicle. As of Saturday evening, the names of the five victims had not been released, with the exception of 16-year-old victim Sarai Lara, whose mother Evangeline confirmed to the Seattle Times that she had separated from her daughter at the Cascade Mall prior to the shooting and was blocked from the Macy’s in an attempt to get back following the shots. Her mother Evangelina Lara said she had survived cancer and was a happy student, according to The Seattle Times. Authorities say Dahir Ahmed Adan, 20, stabbed the people at the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
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Police attend the Cascade Mall after four women were reportedly shot dead and a man critically injured following a shooting at the shopping center on September 23, 2016, in Burlington, Wash.
