Cascade Mall shooting

Last updated

Cascade Mall shooting
Cascade mall shooter.png
Closed-circuit television stills of the shooter
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cascade Mall shooting (Washington (state))
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cascade Mall shooting (the United States)
Location Cascade Mall, Burlington, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates 48°27′44″N122°20′16″W / 48.462213°N 122.337782°W / 48.462213; -122.337782
DateSeptember 23, 2016
6:52 p.m. (PDT)
Attack type
 Mass shooting, mass murder
Weapons Ruger 10/22 rifle [1]
Deaths5
Injured0
PerpetratorArcan Cetin [2]

On September 23, 2016, a mass shooting occurred at Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, U.S. Five people were killed in the incident. The gunman was identified as Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old who emigrated from Turkey as a child with his family. [3] He was arrested the following day in Oak Harbor, Washington, his hometown. [4] On September 26, he confessed to committing the shooting. [5] On April 16, 2017, Cetin killed himself via hanging in his jail cell. [6] [7]

Contents

Killings

On September 23, 2016, Cetin bought tickets to an evening showing of the movie Snowden at Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. He propped open the theater's exit door with his cell phone and left the theater, an action reminiscent of how the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting was carried out. However, a theater associate found the phone and turned it in to a theater kiosk, where Cetin subsequently retrieved it. [8] Shortly before 7:00 p.m. PDT on the same day, Cetin walked into a Macy's store at Cascade Mall with a stolen Ruger 10/22 rifle and opened fire, [9] [10] killing a teenage girl, three women, and one man, [4] the latter of whom died the next day at a Seattle hospital. [11]

Video footage of the shooting, released on October 28, showed the gunman randomly targeting his victims. He first killed a teenage girl near some clothing racks, then approached a cosmetics counter, where he killed one man and three women. All of the victims were shot at close range, while others present in the store escaped unharmed because of their distance from the shooter. Afterwards, the gunman abandoned his weapon and fled the scene in a blue four-door vehicle. [12]

The FBI and ATF provided assistance to the Burlington police and Washington state police in investigating the shooting. [13]

The shooting followed a number of widely publicized attacks on shopping centers, and came a week after a mass stabbing at the Crossroads Center shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. [14]

Victims

Five people were killed in the shooting. They were Sarai Lara (16), a sophomore at Mount Vernon High School and cancer survivor; [15] Chuck Eagan (61), a Boeing maintenance worker from Lake Stevens; [16] Belinda Galde (64), a probation officer with the Snohomish County District Court; [17] Beatrice Dotson (95), Galde's mother; [18] and Shayla Martin (52), a make-up artist at Macy's. [19]

Cetin was charged with "premeditated intent" on five counts of aggravated murder, a charge that was upgraded from the initial charge of first-degree premeditated murder. The charge of aggravated murder is punishable by a sentence of life without parole, or, at the time of the shooting, by the death penalty. [14]

Perpetrator

Arcan Cetin [2] (pronounced [aɾˈdʒantʃeˈtin] , August 20, 1996 – April 16, 2017) was born in Adana, Turkey. He immigrated to the United States as a child after his mother married a U.S. citizen. Authorities initially identified him as a "permanent resident" until further investigation found that he was a naturalized American citizen. [20] He graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 2015 [21] and worked as a bagger at the Commissary in Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. [22] [23]

Cetin was arrested without incident on the evening of September 24 while he was walking on Oak Harbor Road at Northeast Seventh Avenue in Oak Harbor, Washington. [21] Two days later, he confessed to the shooting. [24] Cetin was charged with five counts of aggravated murder. He was being evaluated for mental health concerns. [25]

Cetin had prior arrests; he was a defendant in seven cases in Island County District Court from 2013 to 2015 and was arrested in July 2015 on charges of assault in the fourth degree. [21] Cetin was ordered to undergo mental health counseling, which he completed in March 2016. The court also imposed an order for him not to take drugs or drink alcohol. As of August 25, 2016, no breach of the court order against Cetin had been identified. [26]

On April 17, 2017, the media reported that Cetin had hanged himself the previous night in the Snohomish County Jail. [27] [28] [29] An investigation by the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office concluded that Cetin had killed himself. [6] [7]

Possible motive

Police have not determined a motive for the shooting. Before Cetin's arrest, authorities stated they had no reason to believe the incident was related to terrorism. [30] [31] [32] Cetin told authorities that he was interested in the activities of ISIS, but when asked if the terrorist group had inspired his actions he replied, "I can't answer that." [8] [33] On social media, Cetin posted photos of serial killer Ted Bundy and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. [34]

On September 25, 2016, reports said that Cetin may have been motivated by the break-up of a relationship with a worker from the Macy's store he targeted, but at the time the ex-girlfriend had not worked there in months and lived in another county. [3] Authorities alleged that Cetin called out women's names as he killed his victims during the shooting. [35] [8]

Voting

Initial reporting had revealed that Cetin had completed the legal steps to become a voter and had voted three times despite apparently not being a United States citizen. According to Washington's Secretary of State Kim Wyman, his voting "shined a light in a hole in the voter registration system" as county auditors were not allowed to check the citizenship of voters; Wyman said she would submit a package to the legislature addressing this. [36] It was later determined that Cetin was a naturalized US citizen and therefore permitted to vote. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

Hudson Valley Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Ulster, New York, north of Kingston, United States. It is the lone mall in Ulster County and is the only enclosed mall located between Poughkeepsie and Albany. Hull Property Group currently owns and operates Hudson Valley Mall. The mall opened in 1981 and has an area of 765,704 square feet (71,136 m2) on one level with 19 shops and restaurants as well as a 12-screen Neighborhood Cinema Group theater. As of 2023, the mall maintains a Dick's Sporting Goods, and Target, as well as a handful of specialty stores. Adjacent to the mall is Hudson Valley Plaza, a two-tiered complex on a west-facing hill, consisting mainly of a Walmart, PetSmart and a few other shops.

Cascade Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Burlington, Washington, United States. Opened in November 1989, the mall's anchor stores are AMC Theatres and TJ Maxx. There are 4 vacant anchor stores that were once 2 Macy's stores, Sears, and JCPenney. Macerich owned the property before selling it to Merlone Geier Partners in January 2017. The mall permanently closed on June 30, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington. Some stores will be allowed to stay open if they provide essential services, including those on the outer perimeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunvalley Shopping Center</span> Shopping center in Concord, California

Sunvalley Shopping Center, or more popularly Sunvalley Mall, is a regional shopping center located in Concord, California. Located off Interstate 680, Sunvalley is owned and operated by the Taubman Company and is anchored by two Macy's locations, JCPenney, and Sears. The total square footage of the mall is 1.333 million square feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Harbor High School (Washington)</span> Public high school

Oak Harbor High School (OHHS) is a public grade 9–12 high school that is located in Oak Harbor, Washington, United States, on Whidbey Island. The school is in the Oak Harbor School District #201. Nathan Salisbury is the Principal. Nathaniel Shepherd and Arnie Otterbeck are the Associate Principals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting</span> 2009 terrorist attack in Washington, D.C.

At approximately 12:50 p.m. on June 10, 2009, 88-year-old James Wenneker von Brunn entered the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., with a slide-action rifle and fatally shot Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Other special police officers returned fire, wounding von Brunn, who was apprehended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Town Center at Aurora</span> Shopping center in Aurora, Colorado

The Town Center at Aurora is an enclosed, two-level regional shopping center located in Aurora, Colorado, and covers a leasable area over 1 million square feet. It lies at the center of the commercial and retail district in the area, adjacent to Aurora City Square, Aurora City Place, and Aurora Park Shopping Center, a strip mall. The commercial district itself is located in central Aurora, and the mall's primary trade area includes a mostly suburban, middle-income demographic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Aurora theater shooting</span> Mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, US

On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. Dressed in tactical clothing, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms. Twelve people were killed, and 70 others were injured, 58 of them from gunfire.

On October 24, 2014, 15-year-old freshman student Jaylen Fryberg shot five students at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington, fatally wounding four, before shooting and killing himself. Fryberg's father, Raymond Fryberg, was arrested and convicted the following year for illegally purchasing and owning the gun used in the shooting, among other firearm offenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston church shooting</span> 2015 mass shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina

The Charleston church shooting, also known as the Charleston church massacre, was an anti-black mass shooting and hate crime that occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in the southern United States. Among the fatalities was the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. All ten victims were African Americans. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in U.S. history and is the deadliest mass shooting in South Carolina history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Munich shooting</span> Mass shooting in Munich, Germany

On 22 July 2016, a mass shooting occurred in the vicinity of the Olympia shopping mall in the Moosach district of Munich, Germany. An 18-year-old Iranian-German, David Sonboly, opened fire on fellow teenagers at a McDonald's restaurant before shooting at bystanders in the street outside and then in the mall itself. Nine people were killed, and 36 others were injured, four of them by gunfire. Sonboly then hid nearby for more than two hours, and killed himself by a self-inflicted gunshot wound when confronted by police.

On July 30, 2016, a mass shooting occurred during a house party held by students of the University of Washington and Kamiak High School in the community of Mukilteo. Three people were killed and a fourth was injured. Afterwards, the gunman fled the scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istanbul nightclub shooting</span> 2017 nightclub shooting in Ortaköy, Istanbul, Turkey

The Istanbul nightclub shooting was a mass shooting incident on 1 January 2017 around 01:15 local time, in which a terrorist shot and killed 39 people and wounded 79 others at the Reina nightclub in the Ortaköy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey, where hundreds had been celebrating New Year's Day. Uzbekistan-born Abdulkadir Masharipov was arrested in Istanbul on 17 January 2017. Islamic State claimed credit for his actions. The first hearing in the trial of Masharipov and 51 accused accomplices was held on 11 December 2017, and the next hearing was held on 26 March 2018.

On September 10, 2017, a mass shooting occurred at a home in Plano, Texas, United States. A gunman killed eight people and injured a ninth in the home before being killed by police.

A mass shooting occurred on September 24, 2017, when a gunman opened fire at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, part of the Greater Nashville area, killing one person and injuring six others.

On May 5 and 6, 2016, a shooting spree occurred across several locations in Maryland. Eulalio Tordil, a Homeland Security officer, traveled across the Washington metropolitan area, where he shot and killed three people and wounded three others in the span of 24 hours between May 5 and 6, 2016. The shooting was reminiscent of the 2002 Washington, D.C., sniper attacks.

On November 22, 2018, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., an African-American man, was shot three times from behind and killed by Hoover police officer David Alexander on the night of Thanksgiving, at the Riverchase Galleria shopping mall in Hoover, Alabama. Police responded to a shooting at the mall where two people were shot. Another African-American man suspected in the first shooting was arrested in Georgia a week later and charged in the shooting of one of those injured. Bradford was holding a legally owned weapon when shot and was not involved in the prior shooting incident, although near the crime scene. The shooting of Bradford was immediately controversial, and was condemned by the Alabama National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as an example of racially biased policing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Copenhagen mall shooting</span> Mass shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark

On 3 July 2022, a man opened fire at the Field's shopping mall in Copenhagen, Denmark, killing three people and critically wounding four others. A suspect, a Danish man, was arrested after the shooting; he had a history of contact with the psychiatric healthcare system. According to police, there are no indications that the shooting was terrorism. The suspect has been charged with three murders and seven attempted murders. The mass shooting was the first in Denmark since a gang-related shooting in the same city in 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Would the Cascade Mall gun fall under proposed weapons ban?". September 27, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Man suspected of killing 5 people at Burlington mall arrested in Oak Harbor". KOMO. September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Solis, Steph (September 25, 2016). "What we know about Arcan Cetin, Washington state mall shooting suspect". USA Today. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Karimi, Faith; Pavlak, Shanna; Sutton, Joe (September 24, 2016). "Washington mall shooting: Manhunt underway after gunman kills 5". CNN. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ Allard, Jody; Lyke, M.L.; Wang, Amy B. (September 26, 2016). "Washington mall shooting suspect confesses to killings". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Suspect in Cascade Mall shooting that killed 5 died of suicide in jail, sheriff's probe confirms". Q13 FOX News. June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  7. 1 2 North, Scott; King, Rikki (August 4, 2017). "Reports detail accused mall shooter's suicide at county jail". HeraldNet. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Bellisle, Martha (November 18, 2016). "Suspect in Washington mall shooting began at theater". New Jersey Herald. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Tips from public lead to arrest of Burlington mall shooting suspect". KING-TV. September 25, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ Solis, Steph; Hughes, Trevor (September 25, 2016). "Washington mall shooting suspect to face 5 murder charges". USA Today. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ Dicasimirro, Gemma; Jamieson, Alastair; Sederholm, Jillian; Chuck, Elizabeth (September 24, 2016). "Macy's Shooting: Police Plead for Help IDing Gunman After 5 Killed at Washington Mall". NBC News. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  12. ↑ McNerthney, Casey (October 28, 2016). "Cascade Mall shooting video released in Arcan Cetin case". KIRO. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Fifth victim dies in Cascade Mall shooting in Burlington; suspect remains at large". KCPQ. September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Young, Matt (January 10, 2017). "Upgraded charges mean Cascade Mall shooting suspect Arcan Cetin could face death penalty". news.com.au. AP. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  15. ↑ Lee, Jessica; Maker, Mike (September 24, 2016). "16-year-old cancer survivor among the dead; victims' families grieve". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016. Lara, a Mount Vernon High School sophomore, was one of five people killed when a gunman opened fire in the Burlington department store.
  16. ↑ Hammett, Yvette C.; Connolly, Amy R. (September 25, 2016). "Suspected gunman charged with 1st-degree murder in Washington state mall shooting". UPI. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Chuck Eagan, a longtime Boeing maintenance worker from Lake Stevens, was also a victim, according to his aunt, Carol Thrush. She said Eagan and his wife had gone out to dinner and to the mall to shop and were in Macy's when the shooter began his rampage.
  17. ↑ "The Latest: Mall shooting victim was probation officer". Fox News. Associated Press. September 25, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016. The Snohomish County District Court in a statement identified Belinda Galde as an employee with the court since 1989.
  18. ↑ "Cascade Mall shooting victims: Remembering the 5 people killed". KIRO-TV. September 25, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Beatrice was 95 years old.
  19. ↑ "The victims in the Cascade Mall shooting". KCPQ. September 25, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Brand, Natalie (September 30, 2016). "Cascade Mall suspect is U.S. citizen". KING-TV. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  21. 1 2 3 Stensland, Jesse (September 24, 2016). "Mall shooting suspect arrested in Oak Harbor". Whidbey News-Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ Wang, Amy B.; Rein, Lisa; Hauslohner, Abigail (September 25, 2016). "Authorities seeking motive in Washington state mall shooting that killed five". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on September 26, 2016. In posts on his Facebook page, Cetin described himself as working as a bagger at Whidbey Island Commissary
  23. ↑ "Suspect in Cascade Mall shooting expected to make first court appearance". KIRO-TV. September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2016. Acquaintances say Cetin had been working at the commissary at Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island.
  24. ↑ Hersher, Rebecca (September 26, 2016). "Accused Washington State Mall Gunman Reportedly Confesses To Killing 5 People". NPR.org. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  25. ↑ Kim, Hana (January 5, 2017). "Judge grants defense motion for mental evaluation of accused Cascade Mall shooter". Q13 FOX News. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Suspect in custody after mall shooting in Burlington, Wash". KIRO 7. September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  27. ↑ TEGNA. "Cascade Mall shooting suspect Arcan Cetin dies in jail".
  28. ↑ Staff, KIRO 7 News (April 17, 2017). "Cascade Mall shooter Arcan Cetin dies in jail".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ "Prosecutor: Burlington Mall shooter killed himself in jail". April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Washington state attack: Burlington mall fatalities rise to five". BBC News. September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  31. ↑ Winsor, Morgan; Caplan, David (September 24, 2016). "Manhunt Continues for Gunman in Seattle-Area Mall Shooting That Killed 5". ABC News. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  32. ↑ "City 'changed forever' as authorities hunt mall gunman". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  33. ↑ "City 'changed forever' as authorities hunt mall gunman". Associated Press. AP. September 26, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Mall shooting suspect: 'Creepy,' multiple arrests, disputes". AP. Associated Press. September 26, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  35. ↑ Anderson, Rick (September 25, 2016). "A portrait of violence emerges of suspect in the Washington state mall killings". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  36. ↑ KOMO, News (September 26, 2016). "Mall shooter fallout: Secretary of state to propose citizenship checks for voters". KOMO News. Retrieved March 5, 2021.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.