Man Charged With Murder in Shooting of 5 at Mall in Washington State

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/us/arcan-cetin-shooting-washington-state-mall.html

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MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Arcan Cetin, the man accused of shooting five people to death in a rampage at a shopping mall last week, was charged on Monday with five counts of first-degree murder.

In documents filed in Skagit County District Court, Mr. Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor, Wash., was accused of using a Ruger rifle with a 25-round magazine to open fire Friday at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash., roughly 65 miles north of Seattle. Four women and a man, ages 16 to 95, were killed in the attack, the authorities said.

According to the court filing, which cited witnesses and surveillance footage, a man arrived at the mall in a car, removed a rifle from the trunk and walked into the women’s department of a Macy’s store. There, he first shot a teenager near a clothing rack, then four more people at a cosmetics counter. The gunman then laid the rifle on the counter and left.

Mr. Cetin, who was taken into custody about 24 hours later, told law enforcement officials during questioning that he was the gunman, the court filing said.

Mr. Cetin is being represented by a public defender, Keith Tyne, who declined to comment Monday.

Details on a possible motive have not been released, and the prosecutor in the case, Richard Weyrich, would not discuss whether police had questioned Mr. Cetin on the subject.

After the arrest on Saturday night, a spokesman for the F.B.I.’s Seattle field office said there was no evidence to suggest that the shooting had been an act of terrorism. But on Monday, Mr. Weyrich and a Washington State Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Mark Francis, said terrorism charges had not been ruled out.

During a brief appearance in court on Monday, Mr. Cetin was formally charged, and bail was set at $2 million. His demeanor there matched a description given by a sheriff’s deputy who took him into custody: “zombielike.” Mr. Cetin was led into the courtroom in chains and stood stone-faced as charges were read, uttering only, “Yes, your honor,” in a monotone when asked by the judge to respond.

Court records show that between 2014 and 2015, he was charged three times with domestic violence against his stepfather. After one episode in December, a District Court judge in nearby Island County told him that he was not allowed to have a firearm, according to a report in The Seattle Times.

Former classmates described Mr. Cetin, who officials said had immigrated from Turkey and was a legal permanent United States resident, as socially awkward, troubled and prone to inappropriate behavior toward women.

Emotions ran high on Monday, with Mr. Cetin’s mother and many acquaintances of the victims lining the courtroom’s wooden benches, some crying openly. Classmates of the teenage victim, Sarai Lara, stood in the back of the room wearing pink ribbons as a symbolic memorial. Justin Smith, 16, said he and Sarai had been world cultures classmates.

“She was always helping, always giving,” he said. “She was a cancer survivor.”

Diego Dominguez, 15, said he did not believe Sarai had any connection with the gunman. “She really didn’t deserve this at all,” he said. “It’s just terrible.”

The other victims were a 95-year-old woman and her daughter, a worker at the Macy’s cosmetic counter, and a Boeing maintenance worker.

Mr. Cetin is due in court again on Oct. 26, when he is expected to enter a formal plea.