The suspect in a shooting at a Washington state mall that left five dead is in custody, authorities have said.
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“We are still actively looking for the shooter”, Washington State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Francis said at a Friday night news conference.
The service was held in regard to Friday’s fatal shooting of several people at a Macy’s department store at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington, Wash. One search for “Washington mall terrorism” on Twitter shows that many believe, regardless of what authorities say, that the Washington mall shooting too was an act of terror. “He was kind of zombie-like”.
He “is a legal, permanent resident of the United States”, said Chris Cammock, lieutenant of the Mount Vernon Police Department. “The theater attendant came in and apologized for stopping the movie and said they were asked to have everyone leave immediately”.
Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley said at the news conference that Cetin had been arrested for simple assault past year.
Cetin was arrested in Oak Harbor on Saturday.
Cetin was told by an Island County District Court judge on December 29 that he was not to possess a firearm, the newspaper reported.
The Rev. Cody Natland lit five candles on a table in front of the church, one for each victim. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don’t think our way of life needs to change. The FBI’s Seattle office said on Twitter that it “has no information to suggest additional attacks planned” in Washington state but did not elaborate.
Police said they still do not have a motive.
“Probably one of the most hard moments last night was knowing that we had family of the victims out there wondering about their loved ones”, said Cammock, who commands the SMART Team.
“We are united in knowing that the status quo is not good enough when it comes to violence in our community”, said Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
Oak Harbor is a city of 22,000 on Whidbey Island. Burlington is the only major retail center within 30 miles (48 kilometers) in a region where agriculture is king. At Saturday’s press conference, Lt. Cammock said Cetin first entered the mall unarmed, and the re-entered the mall with a firearm and opened fire in the makeup department of Macy’s.
No motive has been established as of late Saturday night, and Cetin is set to appear at a court for arraignment on Monday.
The identities of the victims – four women who ranged in age from a teenager to a senior citizen – were withheld pending autopsies and notification of family.
Earlier on Saturday as police scrambled to find the shooter, the small city waited and anxious.
Maria Elena Vasquez attended a community gathering Saturday, and she said she was nervous about taking her 7-year-old daughter to her soccer game. Cammock could not say if there was a connection between the suspect and any of the victims. Her mother said she tried to get to Sarai, but was blocked from entering the shooting scene.
Other names, though as of Saturday unconfirmed by the Skagit County Coroner, are reported to be Belinda Galde of Arlington and her 95-year-old mother Beatrice Dotson, who were shopping together at the Macy’s when gunfire broke out.
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 to the restaurant after hearing about the shooting from an employee’s boyfriend.
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Baumann reported from Seattle.
