About 50 mourners gathered at Central United Methodist Church in Sedro-Woolley to pray.
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“We believe at this point one lone shooter”, Francis said.
Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Cetin, of Oak Harbor, was in the area.
A gunman police said killed five people in a Washington state mall remained at large Saturday as authorities appealed for help in identifying the suspect but said there were no indications the slayings north of Seattle were a terrorist act. Eventually, they identified the vehicle he used by matching information received from a tip with surveillance footage obtained from local business.
Surveillance video captured the suspect entering the mall unarmed and then recorded him about 10 minutes later entering the Macy’s with a “hunting type” rifle in his hand, Mount Vernon police Lieutenant Chris Cammock said. They did, however, say Cetin had been arrested once in the past year for simple assault.
Investigators believe that Cetin escaped the mall in a auto, touching off a massive manhunt that stretched for almost 24 hours.
Police described Cetin’s demeanor when apprehended as “zombie like”, and said he was unarmed. “He was kind of zombie-like”.
The FBI was assisting local authorities as dozens of police officers searched for the suspect.
The exact motive behind the shooting that killed four women and a man in a Macy’s store remains unclear, but authorities say Cetin’s ex-girlfriend used to work at the store.
By the time police arrived moments later, the carnage at the Macy’s makeup counter was complete. He was last seen walking toward a nearby interstate highway. The identities of the victims – four women and one man – have not yet been released.
“There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever”.
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.
Initial reports from police after the shooting labeled the then-unidentified suspect as Hispanic.
“We’re only about a couple hours from taking him into custody, and the next stage right now is to do those interviews and learn more from him, if he’s willing to share that with us”, Cammock said.
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. An adult male who was wounded in the shooting died early Saturday, officials said. Cetin, booked in to the Skagit County Jail, will likely make his first court appearance on Monday. The victim was identified as Cetin’s stepfather. Cetin was not armed at the time of his arrest.
A judge told Cetin on December 29 that he could not possess a firearm, according to the Times. At the time, his stepfather asked the judge not to impose a restraining order because Cetin was “going through a hard time” and he wanted to be able to help.
Attempts to reach Cetin’s family for comment by phone and social media weren’t immediately successful. After all, he was a resident of Oak Harbor who had graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 2015 so several people seem to have recognized him when his photograph popped up in the news on Friday night.
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Police arrested the suspected gunman, Arcan Cetin of Oak Harbor, Washington, on Saturday.
