UK Edition
Washington state mall shooting: FBI 'not ruling out terrorism' as Turkish man arrested over five killed in Macy's
A 20-year-old Turkish man is expected to appear in court on Monday on charges of killing five people at a Macy’s department store in Washington state, as the FBI said they were not ruling out an act of terrorism.
Arcan Cetin from Oak Harbor, Washington, offered no resistance when he was arrested on Saturday night, saying nothing and appearing to be in a "zombie-like" state, police said.
On Friday night he had entered a branch of Macy’s at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, just over 65 miles north of Seattle, and opened fire at the make-up counter. He killed four women, aged 16 to 95, instantly. A fifth victim, a man who was airlifted away from the scene, died later.
Cetin had a violent past, had been arrested for drunk driving and was recommended by a judge not to be allowed to own a firearm.
Skagit County court records show three domestic-violence assault charges against Cetin, with the victim identified as his stepfather.
Cetin was told by an Island County district court judge on December 29 that he was not to possess a firearm, but the stepfather urged the judge not to impose a no-contact order, which would require him to surrender his gun - saying his stepson was "going through a hard time".
Cetin’s social media postings gave little hint of extremist tendencies, with his Twitter feed musing over Miley Cyrus, Turkish food, and the computer game Halo.
He also posted childhood photos with his family, and photos from a February 2015 paintballing day.
The previous month he had tweeted: “We win I vote for Hillary Clinton” – his only political reference.
But in April 2015, he had showed a flash of anger, tweeting: “Crazy how when you crack open someone's shell they're everything you spent your time running from.”
Marty Baldwin told The Seattle Times he allowed the suspected gunman, who was homeless at the time, to move in with him and his wife.
But Mr Baldwin kicked him out a few months later after learning the younger man was using and selling drugs, he said.
Mr Baldwin said he called 911 on Friday night, after recognising the man he knew as “Frankie” on TV.
Police on Saturday were unable to confirm reports he had yelled a woman’s name before opening fire.
It was unclear whether he knew his victims - Sarai Lara, 16, a cancer survivor and high school sophomore; Belinda Galde, 64, and her mother, 95-year-old Beatrice Dotson, and Shyla Martin, a 52-year-old Macy's makeup counter employee.
Chuck Eagan, a Boeing maintenance worker, was also killed - shot while helping his wife flee the store.
Following the shooting Cetin was seen walking to a nearby interstate.
The FBI said that while they had no indication the attack was a "terrorism act," it could not be ruled out.
Lt Mike Hawley, Island County sheriff, said he spotted Cetin from a patrol car on Saturday evening in Oak Harbor and immediately recognised him as the suspect. Lt Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Cetin was in the area.
"I literally hit my brakes, did a quick turn, I jumped out," he 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," said Lt Hawley.