Police officers entered the mall in teams, unaware during the hours-long search that the gunman had fled before their arrival.
Advertisement
The mall was evacuated, police swarmed the area and medics rushed to the scene after the mall was initially placed on lockdown.
The mall was closed Saturday as a mark of respect for the victims.
Washington state patrol released the photo of the suspect today.
Security camera footage showed the suspect, who the police described as probably in his late teens or early 20s, entering the mall without a weapon.
“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.
Five people were killed in a shooting at a mall in Burlington, Washington, on Friday night, a spokesman for the state patrol tweeted.
Witnesses told KOMO News that a shooter walked into Macy’s department store and opened fire.
The suspect left the scene before police arrived.
Authorities say the suspect in the deadly Washington state mall shooting said nothing when he was apprehended and was “zombie-like”. A gunman had opened fire in a Macy’s department store, killing four women and critically injuring a man, who later died in a hospital.
“There are people waking up this morning and their world has changed forever”. This was a senseless act. “It came to our little community”, Sexton said.
The FBI said on Twitter that it is assisting with intelligence review and manpower and adds that it “has no information to suggest additional attacks planned in WA state”.
The women ranged in age, from teenager to senior.
The shooting comes one week after a man stabbed 10 people at a mall in St. Cloud, Minn., before being fatally shot by an off-duty police officer.
He said police were not looking for anyone else as part of their probe.
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.
Cetin was apprehended in Oak Harbor, Washington, about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
An adult man who was wounded in the shooting died early Saturday, officials said.
Burkholder told Q13 FOX News that she heard screaming as they were escorted out into the parking lot.
A boyfriend of one of Bose’s employees came into the restaurant after trying to go to the mall.
“I’m just very thankful for my life this morning”.
“I’ve never been scared like that in my life, and people wouldn’t think it would happen”, Armando said.
“There were people outside who were scared because their spouses were outside and they couldn’t get inside”, she explained.
She said Sarai went to Macy’s looking for trousers. She said “it’s nerve-wracking” and she’s nervous about taking her 7-year-old daughter to her soccer game.
A prayer service for the victims was held on Saturday evening at the Central United Methodist Church in Sedro-Woolley, Washington.
The Rev. Cody Natland lit five candles on a table in front of the church, one for each victim.
Advertisement
Flaccus reported from Portland, Oregon.
