The suspect in a shooting at a Washington state mall that left five dead is in custody, authorities said Saturday.
Arcan Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor, was found and taken into custody about 6:30 p.m. PDT Saturday in connection with a deadly shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington on Friday night, police said. Authorities say the motive for the shooting, which left four females and one male dead, is unknown.
>> Who is Arcan Cetin, suspect in deadly Washington state mall shooting?
>> Suspect in Washington state mall shooting arrested
Below is a timeline of events:
Friday, Sept. 23
(ALL TIMES ARE PDT)
6:52 p.m.: According to a screengrab on mall surveillance footage, this is the time the shooting suspect was seen walking through Macy’s with a rifle. The State Patrol later said the shooting happened near the makeup counter.
6:58 p.m.: A 911 dispatcher receives the first call about the active shooter. He was described as wearing black clothing and carrying a rifle. More than 26 agencies respond and about 200 law enforcement personnel were there at the height of the incident. The State Patrol later said video showed the man entering the mall without a weapon and reappeared on Macy’s surveillance video carrying a rifle.
7:06 p.m. Breaking Skagit first tweets initial details from the scanner about a shooting at Macy's, telling people to stay clear of the Cascade Mall, which is at 201 Cascade Mall Drive in Burlington, about an hour and 20 minutes from downtown Seattle.
7:33 p.m.: State Patrol Sgt. Mark Francis, the agency spokesman for Skagit County, confirms an active shooter, tweeting the description: "Hispanic male wearing gray. Last seen walking toward I-5 from Cascade Mall Burlington."
7:43 p.m.: The Skagit County Department of Emergency Management tweets for people to avoid the Cascade Mall area in Burlington and follow all road closures.
7:55 p.m.: Francis tweets that he is at the mall and tells media to look for updates on his Twitter account instead of by phone because of the volume of calls.
8:03 p.m.: Francis confirms four people are dead in the mall and the shooter or shooters left the scene before police arrived. Francis said there may be one shooter, but the total number is unknown. He also tweets that police are clearing the mall.
8:04 p.m.: Reporters and photographers begin staging in the southwest corner of the Cascade Mall parking lot.
8:21 p.m.: Family and friends of people in the mall are told by the State Patrol that survivors will be taken from the mall to His Place Community Church at 1480 S. Burlington Blvd. in Burlington.
8:24 p.m.: Medics enter the mall with a police escort after police initially checked the mall for the shooter. Francis tweets that they are holding out hope the number of deceased goes down. It does not.
9:01 p.m.: Police dogs were dispatched to the AMC Theatres at Cascade Mall for a secondary search.
9:02 p.m.: Skagit County scanner traffic discuss a possible suspect two blocks west of the Cascade Mall on Markwood Road.
9:12 p.m.: The first picture of the shooting suspect is released on the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management's Twitter account. It is a cropped image of the suspect holding a rifle.
9:15 p.m.: A full frame of the suspected shooter photo is obtained by KIRO-TV. The image, which was previously cropped by authorities, shows the suspect holding a rifle.
9:20 p.m.: The same cropped image of the wanted shooting suspect is distributed by the State Patrol, through Francis' Twitter account.
9:26 p.m.: After talking with investigations, people who were inside the mall leave the scene for His Place Community Church.
9:29 p.m.: Gov. Jay Inslee tweets "Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight. Our hearts are in Burlington where a shooter has taken the lives of at least four people." He said questions remain, but that troopers and law enforcement officers are working swiftly to locate the shooter. Inslee asks for people to follow the detour warnings and to stay close to friends and loved ones as we await more information. "Trudi and I send our condolences to the families of the victims and prayers for anyone injured."
9:35 p.m.: Francis changed the number of dead, saying three women were killed at the Cascade Mall. He said one female with non-life-threatening injuries was at a local hospital, and a man was being flown to Harborview Medical Center, the regional trauma center, with life-threatening injuries. He did not have specific ages or immediately know if it was a targeted attack. Francis said the shooter hand a long gun, but did not give caliber. He asked people to stay inside their homes.
10:07 p.m.: The Seattle Mariners tweet that "Our thoughts are with those affected by the tragedy tonight at Cascade Mall. For those in Burlington, please stay safe."
10:10 p.m.: Skagit County Department of Emergency Management's Twitter account tells people to come back Saturday to get their vehicles at the Cascade Mall.
10:38 p.m.: The FBI said they're assisting in the case, and that they have no information to suggest additional attacks were planned in Washington state.
10:50 p.m.: Francis said police were "about 2/3 of the way through doing the final clear" of the mall. There were "a lot of locked doors and room that had to be opened." Francis later clarifies that the mall is 434,000 square feet with secure rooms and doors.
10:52 p.m.: A witness who said she was in a fitting room during the Cascade Mall shooting said the lone man shooter was yelling a female's name as he shot people.
10:58 p.m.: Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he is "deeply saddened by the tragedy in Burlington tonight. Thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by this horrific event."
11:11 p.m.: Francis said 11 search teams were 90 percent complete on their building search. Two canine teams were on the perimeter “still actively searching for (the) suspect throughout the area.”
11:21 p.m.: The official count of deceased changed again. Francis said four women were killed in Macy's. One man was flown to Harborview. Francis said the mall search went from the south to the north. Still no word on a motive.
Saturday, Sept. 24
(ALL TIMES ARE PDT)
12:22 a.m. A law enforcement helicopter remains in the air searching for the suspect.
3:28 a.m.: The State Patrol confirms the fifth victim, the man flown to Harborview Medical Center, died.
4:30 a.m. The full search of the Cascade Mall is completed. Surrounding parking lots remain closed during the investigation.
8:04 a.m.: A multi-agency police briefing begins across from Burlington Police Department headquarters. Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock said the shooter entered the mall without a weapon, then reappeared 10 minutes later in Macy's with a rifle. The victims ranged in age from a teenager to a senior.
8:13 a.m.: Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said “the city of Burlington is probably changed forever, but I don’t think our way of life needs to change in our community.” He praises law enforcement who responded to the senseless act and said “now our support goes with them to help them extend the long arm of the law to bring the son of a bitch to justice who did this to our community.”
8:15 a.m.: Cammock said the suspect appears to be a man in his late teens to mid-20s. He said police have been getting a number of tips, but nothing that’s led to an arrest. Asked specifically if investigators knew his name, Cammock said: “We do not have an identity on the individual yet, and we could certainly use the community’s help on that.”
8:17 a.m.: KIRO-TV asks Cammock why authorities think the shooting suspect is Hispanic. “I think that’s conclusions drawn by people who have looked at the photograph,” he said. “Dark hair. Photographs aren’t exact replicas because we’re taking it off of security footage, but (it) appears to be a little bit darker complected, so I suppose the race could be anything in there. But I think that’s why conclusions are being drawn.” He encourages reporters to look at the photo and see what conclusions they draw.
8:19 a.m.: There is no evidence that the Cascade Mall shooting was a terrorist attack, said Michael Knutsen, assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office. Knutsen said he can’t discount that, but can’t conclude the shooting was a terrorist act.
8:40 a.m.: The Skagit County Department of Emergency Management asks people with information to call police at (360) 428-3211 or scinv@co.skagit.wa.us. Additional photos of the shooting suspect are tweeted.
8:58 a.m.: A vigil forms at Maiben Park at 1011 E. Greenleaf Ave. in Burlington.
9:12 a.m.: Francis tweeted additional suspect photos using the hashtag #CascadeMallShooting
10:22 a.m.: State Patrol spokesman Kyle Moore said multiple agencies were reconstructing the entire mall scene, conducting forensic scanning and collecting evidence. Detectives continued to ask for tips and leads from the public.
2:19 p.m.: The Skagit County Medical Examiner’s office staff entered the Cascade Mall. Authorities said official family notifications had not been made.
2:23 p.m.: State Patrol spokesman Kyle Moore tells KIRO-TV it’s very possible we may not get any new information “until there’s a break in the case.” He said no news conferences are scheduled because they don’t know anything more than they knew at 8 a.m. this morning and that the suspect has not been identified. Investigators were going through all surveillance images/video to see if a clearer image is available to be shared.
3:22 p.m.: Am alert was sent to riders on nine Washington State Ferry routes saying law enforcement is looking to help identify the active shooter involved in the Cascade Mall shooting. “If you can help,” the message reads, “please contact 911.” Authorities did not elaborate if they think the shooter took a ferry.
4:30 p.m.: A vigil will be held tonight at about 5 p.m. at His Place Church in Burlington in memory of the five people killed last night in Cascade Mall.
5:20 p.m.: Officials with Skagit County Department of Management say there are no updates. If anyone has information about the suspect, please call police at (360) 428-3211.
8:15 p.m.: The suspect in custody has been identified as Arcan Cetin, 20 years old. As part of a court case, Cetin was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation in August 2015. That was completed by March of this year.
There were also questions in the court file about cannabis use. But a judge said that was not a mental health issue. In May, a judge approved deferred prosecution in that assault case -- meaning Cetin was not convicted -- and he was ordered not to have alcohol or drugs.
As of Aug. 25, 2016, Cetin was in compliance with weekly sessions for mental health counseling, according to court records. He complied with the alcohol assessment, according to those records, and he had a deferred prosecution review for the case scheduled for 2018.
8:35 p.m.: Further details were found about Cetin's history. Follow this link to read additional details about Cascade Mall shooting suspect Arcan Cetin.
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