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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Arcan Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor, Wash. Patrol Sgt. Mark Francis Saturday via Twitter identified Cetin as the suspect in a shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., that left several dead and sparked an intensive, nearly 24-hour manhunt. Authorities say Cetin was apprehended Saturday evening.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This video image provided by Skagit County Department of Emergency Management shows a suspect wanted by the authorities regarding a shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., on Friday.
BURLINGTON, Wash. >> The 20-year-old suspect in the deadly Washington state mall shooting said nothing and appeared “zombie-like” when he was arrested by authorities nearly 24 hours into an intense manhunt, authorities said.
Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley said he spotted Arcan Cetin from a patrol car Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, Washington, and immediately recognized him as the suspect who killed five people at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington.
Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Cetin, of Oak Harbor, was in the area. Cetin, who immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey, is a legal permanent resident who has been living in Oak Harbor, authorities said. He had been arrested once before in the county for assault, Hawley said.
“I literally hit my brakes, did a quick turn, I jumped out,” Hawley said. “We both jumped out with our guns, and he just froze.”
Cetin was unarmed and was carrying a satchel with a computer in it.
“He was kind of zombie-like,” Hawley said.
The suspect’s arrest capped a frantic search following the slayings of five people the day before.
The first 911 call came in just before 7 p.m. on a busy Friday night at the Cascade Mall: A man with a rifle was shooting at people in the Macy’s department store.
By the time police arrived moments later, the carnage at the Macy’s makeup counter was complete. Four people were dead, and the shooter was gone, last seen walking toward Interstate 5. The fifth victim, a man, died in the early morning hours Saturday as police finished sweeping the 434,000-square-foot building.
“There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don’t think our way of life needs to change,” Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said Saturday at a news conference.
Authorities said it now appears the rifle was brought into the mall from a suspect vehicle that was there, Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock said Saturday night.
Cetin has not been charged, Cammock said. He will be booked into the Skagit County Jail and is expected to appear in Skagit County District Court on Monday.
As the small city absorbed the tragic news, critical questions remained, including the shooter’s motive.
Initially the suspect was described as Hispanic, but Hawley said that was based on initial witness statements to the shooting at the mall.
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, Cammock said.
Authorities did not say how the suspect may have obtained the weapon — whether he retrieved it from outside or picked it up in the mall — but they believe he acted alone. The weapon was recovered at the scene.
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. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld and may not be released until Monday.
Earlier Saturday as police scrambled to find the shooter, the small city about 60 miles (97 kilometers) waited and worried.
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. Burlington is the only major retail center within 30 miles (48 kilometers) in a region where agriculture is king.
Residents gathered Saturday to comfort each other at a community gathering in a city park.
“It’s too scary. It’s too close to home,” said Maria Elena Vasquez, who attended the gathering with her husband and two young children.
Those who survived were still trying to process what happened as their community became the latest entry on a list of places known by the rest of world for mass shootings.
Joanne Burkholder, 19, of nearby Mount Vernon, was watching the movie “The Magnificent Seven” in the mall’s theater when security guards came in and told them to evacuate immediately. Dozens of panicked moviegoers gathered in the hallway, and Burkholder heard screaming as the officers escorted them to safety in a parking lot.
As she drove home later, she had to pull over because she was shaking so hard, she told The Associated Press.
“I’m just very thankful for my life this morning. I’ve never been so terrified in my life,” she said Saturday, trying to hold back tears as she attended the community vigil.
“You’d think it would happen in Everett or Seattle, but a small town of Burlington, I’d never dream something like this would happen,” she said.
People who believed they may have lost loved ones were being sequestered at a church three blocks from the mall, where counselors and a golden retriever therapy dog were present.
The Seattle Times reported that one of the victims in the deadly Washington state mall shooting is a 16-year-old girl.
Sarai Lara’s mother said she had survived cancer as a young girl and was a happy student.
Evangelina Lara told ( http://bit.ly/2cWhxJY ) the newspaper through a translator that she was shopping Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, with Sarai and her younger sister, but they split up.
Evangelina Lara says it was confirmed at 2 a.m. Saturday that her daughter was among the five people killed.
Dozens of people attended a Saturday evening prayer service for the victims. The gathering was held at Central United Methodist Church in nearby Sedro-Woolley, Washington.
The Rev. Cody Natland lit five candles on a table in front of the church, one for each victim.
More denial and misdirection from AP and StarAdvertiser…”no terrorist connection?” The prep is Arcan Cetin / Turkish / Muslim.
Probably but where did you get that info?
The Internet lit up wthin minutes of his arrest. #cascademallshooter
https://twitter.com/nia4_trump/status/779884297247420417/photo/1 He’s hiLIARy supporter!! This is not good for the libs…oh & hiLIARy.
The Internet lit up within minutes of his arrest. #cascademallshooter
Did bumba mean to say the “perp”? Or he knows the kid is a preppy?
Yup, good hunting bumbai. Sadly, I’d say this and the race riots are the new normal. Part of Barky’s precious legacy.
Whenever there is clear evidence of a Muslim/Islam inspired attack and Democrats/the media contort themselves into pretzels playing word jiu jitsu to protect the “religion of peace,” Donald Trump comes one step closer to being president.
Obama and Hillary are trying to import 100,000 or more Syrians…they are desperately trying to spin the false narrative that these attacks are random and have nothing to do with Islam. That is a lie. AP and other “compliant” media sources have to wait until they are told what to report in order to support the narrative. The Internet splatters the truth all over the planet before these bozos can get out of the chute. Pay attention.
Bumbai, you better lay off whatever you’re taking. Are you saying all Arcan Cetin, Turkish, Muslim people are terrorists? You can look through any list of ethnic groups and find mellow ones and wingnut ones.
Sandy does not get it. senseless nuts occur everywhere, but Muslim killings are common place all over the world and directed and originate from general dislike of them for western culture fanned by their Koran.
Sandys, Did you read what Joanne Burkholder, who was there, said about it? She was “terrified.” As in terror. Maybe the FBI won’t call it that. Maybe you, from the comfort of your island hale, won’t call it that. But I’ll take Joanne’s word for it.
Sandys…arcan cetin is a hiLIARy supporter. See my link above.
Terrible news for your female felon.
@Sandys: shooting and killing multiple people was a terrorist act.
Bumbai:
A good percentage of these 100,000 or more Syrians will become terrorists. It’s just a matter of time and place.
Their children will be “home grown” terrorists.
And the Emperor-in-retirement will smile.
Thanks and to the Muslim community we have to say: Mall shoppers lives matter. And to Hillary I say: We need more Muslim immigration so we will get used to these killings.
Sadder still is arcan cetin is a hiLIARy supporter.
Right here in honolulu two are shot in chinatown. Why? Because they are after the “Green” bible! Stack American paper. Every day they kill for Donalds icon. Until we get rid of Green religion, we will always have these senseless killings. Get rid of Donald and his Green Stacks so we can move foward.
You ok? Go watch some NFL & relax.
America has shootings like this every day. We are already “used to it.” It’s nothing to do with Muslims-terrorism. My next door neighbor, a woman, won’t go outside after dark, because she’s afraid of being attacked, because America is a violent country. It’s nothing to do w/terrorism, she’s been like that since I met her, in the 90s. Think of what it’s like to live like that.
Really7 You have criticized other posters for drawing their own conclusions before all of the facts are obtained, yet you confidently proclaim that “It’s nothing to do with Muslims-terrorism.” Perhaps you ought to follow your own advice.
But isn’t Turkey a province of Mexico, making the “hispanic” label correct? ;(
The Liberal Media gets a pass reporting news li dat. When the news 1st came out it stated he looked of Mexican descent then the next thing you know they edit out the race card! If it was TheDonald he’d be crucified. The Media is biased on both sides of the fence
Bumbai; honestly, you people seriously need to get a grip! Where is the “lie”? Where is the “denial”? Information in crimes comes in piecemeal; you don’t know all the facts immediately. And investigators aren’t required to disseminate them immediately. That doesn’t mean anyone is lying or in denial for christ’s sake. Not everything’s being manipulated politically! They didn’t say there is “no terrorist link,” but rather (this is from CNN’s report), “Before the suspect’s arrest, an official with the FBI had told reporters there was “no evidence at this time” of a link to terrorism.” See the line in interior quote? They don’t *know* yet if there is a terrorist link; it’s not saying there isn’t one at all. They just arrested the man less than 24 hours ago. Now they are investigating. They have to link him to the crime and then find a motive. They aren’t thinking “Oh, we better get this info out right away so that Bumbai who reads the Star Advertiser won’t think we’re lying!”
If you think the Star Advertiser lies to you all the time, why the heck are you a subscriber? Though I have noticed that when they run AP stories many times they don’t run the entire story; you’ll find a longer version on other sites. Maybe it’s to do w/money. They’re a small, decently written paper that’s doing the best they can; it saddens me to see you people attack it all the time. Why do you bother reading it then? Or is it that you just like to complain?
There is more information about the suspect in other outlets, suggesting a lot more to this story. He has domestic violence arrests (attacking his step father), and a drunk driving arrest. His ex girlfriend worked @ that Macy’s, which authorities think might be reason he targeted it. But his picture was shown to relatives of the dead people and they didn’t recognize him. This suggests it was random. This info was in stories in the Seattle Times. It’s sort of a “local” story for them (the mall’s about an hour/hour and a half drive away), so I figured they’d have the most info. But they do have paywall; if yr not a subscriber you can only read 10 stories a month. Check it out.
If the media is doing such a bang up job how come I had the guy’s name, religion and country of origin five hours before they reported it? No, it isn’t even a “mainstream” media anymore…it’s simply the propaganda arm of the elite power structure. You should be asking yourself why they are pushing for the mass importation of people from a culture and belief system that is totally incompatible with American democracy? Muslims do not want to assimilate to American culture they want to change it to comply with their belief system. It is called Hijra. ISIS proudly encourages “lone wolf” terrorist attacks like this one, and lionizes the perpetrators as soldiers of Islam. To believe these attacks have “no relationship” with terrorism, or Islam is self-destructive and deliberate ignorance. The pattern is clear and is destroying western Europe. The real question, which will never be discussed in the Star Advertiser, is who is deliberately destroying the United States and what kind of world are they attempting to create not how can we spin this event to be “random workplace violence,” or “upset with his girlfriend,” or whatever other smokescreen you want to help promote. The real story is we have another Muslim immigrant who was unhappy with life and decided to become a mass murderer…how many more before you wake up?
Where did I say the media was doing a “bang up” job? I said the SA was doing “the best they can”; hardly a ringing endorsement.
Where did I say the attack has “no relationship to terrorism”? I said the FBI said there was no known link to terrorism at this time. That doesn’t mean one couldn’t be found later.
Your “real question” will never be discussed in the Star Advertiser because they don’t do much hard news reporting. When they do, it’s limited to HI news; all mainland/international stories are wire feeds. So stop looking for an answer there.
The fact is, there is workplace violence (which isn’t “random,” the killer picked it specifically, because they got fired or something). And yes, there is “upset w/the girlfriend” violence. In fact in WA state, in Mukilteo, at the end of July, a teen went to a home where his ex girlfriend was and shot her dead along w/2 other people. No one overreacted about terrorism then.
This suspect sounds like a weirdo. There’s more info about him in the Seattle Times, he would grab women at school, trying to grope them. People didn’t like him and avoided him. In 2015, a judge ordered he not have access to guns, but his stepfather protested, saying the guy was going thru a “hard time” and he wouldn’t be able to help his step son if the order was enforced. Even though the guy attacked his stepfather on occasion! To me, at this time, it sounds more like a shooting along the lines of the guy who shot a bunch of women at a gym in 2009, or that guy in Canada that killed 14 women at a college in 1989.
Of course it could still be terrorism. Or it could be combination of that an other factors. We don’t know at this point.
As far as your last question, I don’t believe stopping all immigration and deporting all immigrants from 1960 on would end mass shootings here. I believe we would still have then. Most mass shootings in this country are not terrorist related (not yet, anyway). I don’t worry about terrorism. I’m much more likely to be killed by one of my fellow Americans than a terrorist. And I’m much more likely to be murdered by someone I know than by a stranger. And I’m much more likely to be killed in a car crash than to be murdered. So I have a fatalistic attitude about it. If it happens, it happens. There’s nothing at all I can do about it. It’s nothing I can do anything to change. Sudden violence is just a fact of life in America. I don’t believe that will ever change.
thats a lot of jibber jabber
Exactly. The liberal media routinely refuses and/or delays reporting the news. Initial reports said police were looking for a Hispanic male. Yet when they showed the suspect’s photo he is clearly not Hispanic but looks middle eastern. Now there’s no denying it — after the fact. He is an immigrant Muslim. We have Obama to thank for this political correctness which is destroying this country — first from within; then from without.
Are muslims generally “zombie-like” in their reasoning ?
One would thinks so if one looks at the tenets of their religion. The 1st require the belief that there can be only one God and his messenger is Mohammed. Jihad is defined as a holy war on behalf of Islam! From it outset it means no tolerance! Political correctness aims to ignore this tenet.
Don’t make such long comments,just say under a Trump president that Cretin would have never been allowed here and 5 people would not have been shot.
Where’s the LIBERALS….crickets……
I does not get any sadder than this. One of his victims was Sarai Lara, 16, a cancer survivor. Sincere condolences to her family and all of the families affected by this person’s horrific actions.