Authorities are searching for the suspected shooter, who they say left the scene at Cascade Mall before police arrived. Three women were shot dead, a man was critically injured and another woman suffered non-life threatening injuries, Washington State Patrol spokesman Mark Francis told the network.
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Nineteen-year-old Joanne Burkholder was watching the movie “The Magnificent Seven” in a theater at the Cascade Mall on Friday night when police and security came in and told them they needed to evacuate.
She said she heard screaming as they were escorted out into the parking lot.
Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino’s Italian restaurant near Macy’s, said she immediately locked the doors to the restaurant after hearing about the shooting from an employee’s boyfriend.
Authorities had initially reported four female victims who died at the scene.
Police said early Saturday they didn’t know the gunman’s identity and urged the community for help in identifying him.
Burlington is a city of about 8,000 people, but its population swells to several times that as people visit the mall and area outlet stores during the week.
Police were searching on Saturday for a gunman who killed five people during a shooting at a mall in the USA state of Washington, amid a raging national debate over gun control. Mount Vernon Police Lt. Chris Cammock described it as a “hunting type” rifle.
The Cascade Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Burlington, Washington that opened in 1990, according to the mall’s website.
There were reports of a man walking into a Macy’s at the mall armed with an assault rifle and opening fire at around 7.30pm on Friday evening. About 10 minutes later, video shows, he entered the Macy’s store, where he shot four women ranging in a age from teenager to senior.
The gunman remained at large.
Washington State Trooper Mark Francis speaks to the media at the Cascade Mall following reports of an active shooter in Burlington, Washington, on September 23, 2016.
(AP Photo/Stephen Brashear). Law enforcement officers stand outside to the entrance of Macy’s at the Cascade Mall where several people were shot and killed Friday Sept. 23, 2016 in Burlington, Wash. Police did not release the names or ages of those who died. He is described as a Hispanic male wearing grey.
Update: It’s not yet classified as terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said today, but they’re not ruling it out either. We believe just one shooter.
Police searched Saturday for a gunman authorities said opened fire in the makeup department of a Macy’s store at a mall north of Seattle, killing four females, before fleeing toward an interstate on foot.
Edmonds Police spokesman Sgt. Shane Hawley said Friday night that EPD did send units to Burlington to assist following the shooting.
Authorities are continuing to search for the shooter.
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Update: Hot Air reader tr4a says local TV is reporting that police have the rifle, but not the suspect.
