FBI: No indication of terrorism concerning Washington shooting suspect

The 20-year-old suspect in the deadly Washington state mall shooting said nothing and appeared "zombie-like" when he was arrested by authorities nearly 24 hours into an intense manhunt, authorities said. As the small city absorbed the news, critical questions remained, including the shooter's motive. Island County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Hawley said he spotted Arcan Çetin from a patrol car Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, Washington, and immediately recognized him as the suspect who killed five people at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington. Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Çetin, of Oak Harbor, was in the area. Çetin, who immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey, is a legal permanent resident who has been living in Oak Harbor, authorities said. He had been arrested once before in the county for assault, Hawley said. "I literally hit my brakes, did a quick turn, I jumped out," Hawley said. "We both jumped out with our guns, and he just froze." Çetin was unarmed and was carrying a satchel with a computer in it. "He was kind of zombie-like," Hawley said.

The suspect's arrest capped a frantic search following the slayings of five people the day before. The first 911 call came in just before 7 p.m. on a busy Friday at the Cascade Mall: A man with a rifle was shooting at people in the Macy's department store. By the time police arrived moments later, the carnage at the Macy's makeup counter was complete. Four people were dead, and the shooter was gone, last seen walking toward Interstate 5. The fifth victim, a man, died in the early morning hours Saturday as police finished sweeping the 434,000-square-foot building. "There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don't think our way of life needs to change," Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said Saturday at a news conference. Authorities said it now appears the rifle was brought into the mall from the suspect's vehicle that was there, Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock said Saturday night. Çetin has not been charged, Cammock said. He will be booked into the Skagit County Jail and is expected to appear in Skagit County District Court on Monday.

The Seattle Times reports that Skagit County court records show three domestic-violence assault charges against Çetin. The victim was identified as Çetin's stepfather. The newspaper reports Çetin also was arrested for drunken driving. Çetin was told by an Island County District Court judge on Dec. 29 that he was not to possess a firearm, the newspaper reported. However, the stepfather urged the judge not to impose a no-contact order, saying his stepson was "going through a hard time." Initially the suspect in the mall shooting was described as Hispanic, but Hawley said that was based on initial witness statements to the shooting at the mall. Surveillance video captured the suspect entering the mall unarmed and then recorded him about 10 minutes later entering the Macy's with a "hunting type" rifle in his hand, Cammock said. The identities of the victims — four women who ranged in age from a teenager to a senior citizen, were withheld pending autopsies and notification of family. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld and may not be released until Monday.

Earlier Saturday as police scrambled to find the shooter, the small city about 97 kilometers north of Seattle waited and worried. The community of 8,600 people is too far from Seattle to be a commuter town, but its population swells to 55,000 during the day because of a popular outlet mall and other stores and businesses. Burlington is the only major retail center within 48 kilometers in a region where agriculture is king. "It's too scary. It's too close to home," said Maria Elena Vasquez, who attended a gathering in a city park Saturday with her husband and two young children. Those who survived were still trying to process what happened as their community became the latest entry on a list of places known by the rest of world for mass shootings.

Joanne Burkholder, 19, of nearby Mount Vernon, was watching the movie "The Magnificent Seven" in the mall's theater when security guards came in and told them to evacuate immediately. Dozens of panicked moviegoers gathered in the hallway, and Burkholder heard screaming as the officers escorted them to safety in a parking lot. As she drove home later, she had to pull over because she was shaking so hard, she told The Associated Press. "I'm just very thankful for my life this morning. I've never been so terrified in my life," she said Saturday, trying to hold back tears as she attended the community vigil.

The U.S. has faced several mass killings before and therefore activists uttered their voices against civil arming. Although the Obama administration attempted to prevent arming, due to heavy pressure from gun lobbies, a bill, restricting the access to arms, has not been put into effect. A similar incident happened in Illinois on early Sunday. One man was killed and four other people were injured in a pair of shootings, including one that happened on the University of Illinois campus. Police believe the two shootings in the eastern Illinois city of Champaign may be related. They said the first apparently stemmed from an argument shortly after midnight at an apartment party on Green Street, the commercial heart of the campus. "Our preliminary investigations completely points to an argument taking place at the party and the argument spilled out into the street and that's' when a fight occurred," Champaign police spokeswoman LaEisha Meaderds said, adding the reasons for the fight aren't clear yet.