Washington State Mall Shooter Captured: 20-Year Old Arcan Cetin; Authorities Begin Identifying Victims

Last night I reported on a mall shooting in Burlington, Washington, about 65 miles north of Seattle. Washington State Patrol said at a 2:30am ET press conference that four female victims were killed inside the Macy’s at Cascade Mall. Earlier today they announced that a fifth victim had also died while the killer was still at large.

Then earlier this evening reports began to trickle out that the unknown suspect had been apprehended in Oak Harbor, Washington, about 30 miles away from Burlington.

Police have confirmed that the suspected killer is 20-year-old Arcan Cetin.

BREAKING: Mall shooting suspect is Arcan Cetin, 20-year-old resident of Oak Harbor, Washington, authorities say

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 25, 2016

OFFICIAL: Here is a DOL photo of the suspect: Arcan Cetin, 20-yr-old Oak Harbor resident. pic.twitter.com/fypj6aBBJ2

— Sgt. Mark Francis (@wspd7pio) September 25, 2016

Police say Arcan Cetin immigrated from Turkey and is a legal permanent resident. #komonews https://t.co/VIwea3LnU6

— KOMO News (@komonews) September 25, 2016

#CascadeMallShooting suspect Arcan Cetin is expected to appear in Skagit County District Court on Monday

— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) September 25, 2016

People from Oak Harbor began posting video and pictures of his arrest in near-real time.

Burlington Shooter in Oak Harbor. Looks like he’s caught by the cops. pic.twitter.com/mgrcEQ7DSq

— Zachary⚒Mckinzey (@ZacharyMckinzey) September 25, 2016

Patrol officer in Oak Harbor recognized suspect walking and arrested him w/o incident @KIRO7Seattle

— AMY CLANCY (@ClancyKIRO7) September 25, 2016

Meanwhile, the deceased victims were still at the crime scene until this afternoon. Police are just beginning to identify them.

Pictured are 3 of 5 people killed in shooting at Macy’s in Burlington, Wash.

Read more, story still developing >> https://t.co/AmCoe5xWt4 pic.twitter.com/b83Q6a3EBq

— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) September 25, 2016

From that KIRO 7 report:

Sarai Lara

Lara was 16 years old and a student at Mount Vernon High School. Friends said she was at the mall with her dad.

Lara’s father stepped outside to smoke when the shooting started, KIRO 7 was told.

Friends plan to wear purple and pink to honor Lara Monday when students return to Mount Vernon High School.

Belinda Galde and Beatrice Dotson

Galde and her mother, Beatrice Dotson, were at Macy’s together.

Belinda was a probation officer.

Beatrice was 95 years old.

While still early in the investigation, authorities have not announced a motive. But some indications suggest that the attack may have been random.

Source tells @CJIngalls that at this point law enforcement sees no connection between the suspect and any of the victims. Seemingly random.

— Alex Rozier (@AlexRozierK5) September 25, 2016

Source: suspects ex-girlfriend left Macy’s job about a year ago. People killed in mall yesterday were a parent strangers.

— Chris Ingalls (@CJIngalls) September 25, 2016

Prior to his capture, police were questioning where he had obtained the gun.

Surveillance seems to show gunman in #CascadeMallShooting initially enter mall without weapon, but later enter Macy’s w the rifle. #KOMONews pic.twitter.com/M2yq0QEiuU

— Gabe Cohen (@GabeCohenKOMO) September 24, 2016

Source: suspect Arcan Cetin got the guns from his father. He had two more guns with him during the attack.

— Chris Ingalls (@CJIngalls) September 25, 2016

Cetin did have some presence on social media, mostly dated.

Cascade Mall shooter Arcan Cetin Cetin arrested in July 2015 on charges of assault in the fourth degree. https://t.co/Q2FlMrNsmW

— Laura Walker (@LauraWalkerKC) September 25, 2016

.@ArcanCetin, from his Myspace page, when he was 50 pounds heavier: pic.twitter.com/rC1ESJtiNb

— Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) September 25, 2016

From Arcan Cetin’s Tumblr page: a bit of Muslim evangelism: https://t.co/Np0oWzVGtp #CascadeMallShooting pic.twitter.com/Q8ZWAXQiYZ

— Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) September 25, 2016