Report on accused Cascade Mall shooter confirmed

SEATTLE — Detectives have confirmed that Cascade Mall shooting suspect Arcan Cetin was the man turned away from buying a large-caliber handgun by an Oak Harbor gun shop owner because he was acting strangely just hours before the deadly rampage.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mark Francis said that members of the Skagit County Multiagency Response Team have identified Cetin as the man seen on a surveillance videotape turned over to detectives by the gun store.

The store owner said there was something “off” about the man who entered her store between 5 and 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 23 and asked about purchasing a .45-caliber handgun. The owner said she immediately decided that she was not going to sell him a firearm.

The store owner has asked that her identity and the name of her business be withheld out of safety concerns.

Police said Cetin entered the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Skagit County, about a 40-minute drive from the gun store, at just before 7 p.m. armed with a 25-shot, .22-caliber rifle that belonged to his father.

He opened fire inside the Macy’s department store, near the cosmetics counter, killing four people outright and mortally wounding a fifth before putting the gun on a counter and walking out of the store. Killed were: Sarai Lara, 16, of Mount Vernon; Shayla Martin, 52, of Mount Vernon; Belinda Galde, 64, and her mother, 95-year-old Beatrice Dotson, both of Arlington; and Wilton “Chuck” Eagan, 61, of Lake Stevens.

Cetin, 20, was arrested without incident the following day near his Oak Harbor apartment.

Cetin, who has a history of bizarre and aggressive behavior, according to people who knew him, has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder.

According to court records, he was under a court order not to possess firearms and had been involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment after a suicide attempt, both of which would disqualify him from purchasing a firearm and would likely appear on the background check.