美国国家公共电台 NPR Suspect Arrested In Fatal Washington State Mall Shooting Of 5

Suspect Arrested In Fatal Washington State Mall Shooting Of 5

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A manhunt in Washington state is over. The suspect in a fatal shooting is now in custody 2. Five people were killed at a mall north of Seattle on Friday night when a man opened fire at a Macy's cosmetics 3 counter. The shooter then fled the scene and became the subject of an intense search. Kate Walters from member station KUOW is in Burlington, Wash., and she joins us now.

Good morning, Kate.

KATE WALTERS, BYLINE 4: Good morning.

MARTIN: What can you tell us about how police finally tracked this guy down?

WALTERS: Well, in the end, they told us that it was tips from the community and surveillance footage, essentially 5, that led them to this suspect. We're talking about 20-year-old Oak Harbor resident Arcan Cetin. Police told us last night that, in addition to tips that they received about Cetin, they were able to use video footage from around the shopping complex to connect a car seen at the mall with him. So once they knew about the car, they were on the lookout 6 for it of course, and that car was spotted 7 in or Oak Harbor Saturday night.

A lieutenant 8 with the local sheriff's office was on his way to check out that car when he actually spotted Cetin walking down the street and recognized him as the suspect. And this lieutenant, Mike Hawley, said he slammed on his brakes. He did a U-turn, hit his lights, pulled his gun and he and another deputy arrested Cetin right there. And Lieutenant Hawley said Cetin didn't resist and was, you know, quote, "zombie-like," during the arrest, which was interesting.

MARTIN: What more do we know at this point about Arcan Cetin, the shooter, and what his motives 10 might have been?

WALTERS: Look, we don't know a whole lot about him as a person. He lives in Oak Harbor, where he was arrested, which is about 40 minutes from where the shooting happened. He's Turkish by birth but is a legal permanent resident here. We don't know when he immigrated 11, but we do know that he is a legal permanent resident. One thing officials did tell us is that Cetin has been arrested once before in his county for an assault.

You asked about motive 9, and that's the question that's on everyone's mind here. You know, why here? Why this community? Why that mall? Why the cosmetics counter at Macy's? And the reality is, unfortunately, police don't really know right now. They said in a briefing last night they're hoping Cetin will cooperate with them. They are getting search warrants for his house and his car. But right now they're saying it's too soon to know, and they can't really rule anything out.

MARTIN: Kate, there was a piece of this that seemed odd from the start. The security footage shows the shooter walking into that shopping mall unarmed. And then about 10 minutes later, he's armed and he's inside Macy's. Any information at this point about how he got that rifle?

WALTERS: Look, it's still a little bit of a mystery. This is one of the things people were asking about yesterday because it really did seem odd. And it's something police said they're hoping they can find out as they talk to Cetin and really piece together the timeline. The one thing they did tell us last night is they didn't realize, originally that the shooter had a vehicle, and they now think that he got the rifle from the vehicle. So there's a sense maybe he left the mall again after that first entrance footage was taken, got the rifle, came back.

MARTIN: And just briefly 12 - we'll obviously learn more in coming days - but what are the next steps at this point in the investigation 13?

WALTERS: Well, we're still waiting for the victims to be identified, so that's really something that the community is looking to hear. And also, Cetin hasn't been formally charged yet. He's been booked into the Skagit County jail, though. And one of the officials at the press conference last night said with confidence that he will appear in Skagit County Court on Monday.

MARTIN: Kate Walters of member station KUOW.

Thank you so much, Kate.

WALTERS: You're welcome.