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Police Hunt Gunman Who Killed 5 at Mall in Washington State Police Hunt Gunman Who Killed 5 at Mall in Washington State
(about 1 hour later)
A manhunt was underway Saturday for a gunman who the police say fatally shot five people at a mall north of Seattle the night before. A manhunt was underway Saturday for a gunman who the police say fatally shot five people at a mall north of Seattle on Friday night before.
The attacker killed four women in the cosmetics department of a Macy’s department store at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, said Sgt. Mark Francis, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol. The authorities transported another victim, a man who was critically wounded, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died, the authorities said. The attacker killed four women in the cosmetics department of a Macy’s department store at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., the authorities said. A man was also critically wounded in the shooting and transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died. The youngest woman killed was described as a teenager, law enforcement officers said during a news conference on Saturday morning.
A local radio report said that the gunman shouted the name of a woman several times as he opened fire. The gunman, who was armed with a rifle, left before the police arrived. The mall was evacuated after the 7:45 p.m. shooting, said Sgt. Mark Francis, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol.
The gunman, who was believed to have been armed with a rifle, left before the police arrived, and the mall was evacuated after the 7:45 p.m. shooting, Sergeant Francis said. A spokesman for the F.B.I.’s Seattle field office said Saturday that there was no evidence to suggest that the shooting was an act of terrorism.
The authorities believe there was only one gunman, but it was unclear whether he had help, Sergeant Francis said in a briefing outside the mall around midnight. The gunman was last been seen walking toward Interstate 5, he said. Mayor Steve Sexton, of Burlington, described the shooting as senseless. “There are people waking up this morning and their world has changed forever,” he said. “The city of Burlington has probably changed forever. But I don’t think our way of life needs to change.”
Gov. Jay Inslee offered condolences to the families of the victims. “Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight,” he said in a Twitter message. “Our hearts are in Burlington.” Mr. Sexton said: “It was the world knocking on our doorstep. It came to our little community here.”
The F.B.I. said early Saturday that it had “no information to suggest that additional attacks” were planned in Washington State, and that it was coordinating intelligence efforts with the local authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also said on Twitter that it was responding to the scene. The authorities believe there was only one gunman. He was last been seen walking toward Interstate 5, Sergeant Francis said.
A spokesman for the F.B.I.’s Seattle field office said Saturday there was no evidence to suggest that the shooting was an act of terrorism. After the shootings, the gunman left the rifle behind, the authorities said. They declined to give details about the weapon or to say how many rounds were fired.
After the shooting, the police converged on the mall and made a store-by-store sweep of the 440,000-square-foot building, looking for survivors, some of whom had locked themselves in dressing rooms and other areas, too frightened to come out, KIRO, a television station in Seattle, reported. At a news conference Saturday morning, the authorities in Washington described the fearful moments after the shooting, as officers searched the roughly 440,000-square-foot mall for the attacker, finding only store employees and shoppers.
“It becomes more commonplace obviously, these shooting situations in our country, but until you’re one of the ones inside a building like that it is really hard to describe,” Sergeant Francis told reporters. The mall remained closed because it was still a crime scene. As of Saturday morning, the bodies remained at the store, said the Skagit County coroner, Hayley Thompson. She will not be able to confirm the victims’ identities until she gains access to the scene, she said.
Eric Mathews, 40, who was meeting his son there, said it had been a typical Friday night at the mall, about 65 miles north of Seattle. He described it as a “teenage scene kind of thing.” “I have not had a chance to get any of the information yet,” she said on Saturday morning.
Police officers entered the mall in teams, unaware during the hourslong search that the gunman had fled before their arrival. They searched “every room and every nook and cranny,” said Lt. Chris Cammock, commander of the multiagency response team conducting the investigation.
Security camera footage showed the suspect, who the police described as probably in his late teens or early 20s, entering the mall without a weapon. Footage taken 10 minutes later showed him entering Macy’s with a rifle.
Lieutenant Cammock declined to comment on reports that a witness heard a man shout a woman’s name. The authorities do not yet know the suspect’s motivation, he said.
Gov. Jay Inslee offered condolences on Friday night to the families of the victims. “Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight,” he said in a Twitter message. “Our hearts are in Burlington.”
The F.B.I. said early Saturday that it had “no information to suggest that additional attacks” were planned in Washington State, and that it was coordinating intelligence efforts with the local authorities. More than 200 officers from at least 26 agencies responded to the shooting, authorities said.
Eric Mathews, 40, who was meeting his son at the mall, said it had been a typical Friday night at the mall, about 65 miles north of Seattle. He described it as a “teenage scene kind of thing.”
Mr. Mathews arrived around the time the shooting occurred. He and his son, Kai, 16, left just before the mall was locked down, he said. Four of Kai’s friends were stuck inside after the mall was locked down, he said.Mr. Mathews arrived around the time the shooting occurred. He and his son, Kai, 16, left just before the mall was locked down, he said. Four of Kai’s friends were stuck inside after the mall was locked down, he said.
“Imagine I was late or if he didn’t answer his phone,” Mr. Mathews said, referring to his son. “That stuff is running through my mind.”“Imagine I was late or if he didn’t answer his phone,” Mr. Mathews said, referring to his son. “That stuff is running through my mind.”
Stephanie Bost, an employee at Johnny Carino’s, a restaurant at the mall, said that after hearing from a customer about the shooting — about 100 yards away — “we went on lockdown.”Stephanie Bost, an employee at Johnny Carino’s, a restaurant at the mall, said that after hearing from a customer about the shooting — about 100 yards away — “we went on lockdown.”
One woman, Tari Caswell, told the Skagit Valley Herald that she had been in the Macy’s women’s dressing room when she heard four loud pops. One woman, Tari Caswell, told the Skagit Valley Herald that she had been in the Macy’s women’s dressing room when she heard four loud pops followed by seven of eight more.
“Then I heard seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right,” she said. “And it got very quiet. And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store.” “I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right,” she said. “And it got very quiet. And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store.”
Officials also called off the Burlington-Edison High School football game and evacuated the stadium, which is just north of the mall, The Herald reported.Officials also called off the Burlington-Edison High School football game and evacuated the stadium, which is just north of the mall, The Herald reported.
The attack was the seventh time this year in which at least four people were killed in a shooting in Washington, according to The Seattle Times.The attack was the seventh time this year in which at least four people were killed in a shooting in Washington, according to The Seattle Times.