By Alejandro Lazo and Zusha Elinson
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. -- Prosecutors on Monday charged the man
arrested after a deadly mall shooting with five counts of
first-degree premeditated murder and said he confessed to the
crime.
Arcan Cetin made his first court appearance since the killings
Friday night at a mall in Burlington, Wash., about 60 miles north
of Seattle. Prosecutors said Mr. Cetin, 20 years old, walked into a
Macy's department store and gunned down five people. Four women and
one man died, ranging in age from 16 to 95.
Mr. Cetin, clad in a loose-fitting blue shirt and red pants,
with his hands shackled at the waist, said nothing other than "yes,
your honor," when asked if he understood the charges and if he had
time to consult with an attorney.
The judge appointed a public defender to represent him.
Charging documents don't indicate a motive for the shootings,
but they say Mr. Cetin confessed after being questioned by
investigators.
During the interview, Mr. Cetin "said it was him in the video
and he did bring the rifle into Macy's and shot all 5 victims,"
according to the documents.
Mr. Cetin didn't enter a plea. Skagit County District Court
Judge David Svaren set bail at $2 million. If he is released on
bond, Mr. Cetin is ordered to stay in the country and is banned
from possessing firearms. He signed the order agreeing to the terms
with his hands still shackled.
A lawyer representing Mr. Cetin at the hearing made no comments
and referred questions to the director of the public defender's
office. The director didn't immediately respond to requests for
comment.
Richard Weyrich, the prosecuting attorney for Skagit County,
declined to discuss motive. He didn't say whether his office will
seek the death penalty. If it doesn't, each charge carries a
maximum penalty of life in prison.
In 2014, Gov. Jay Inslee suspended carrying out death sentences
in the state.
Mr. Weyrich referred questions about terrorism to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, which said there were no indications of
terrorism but the investigation was continuing.
"It is a terrible, terrible thing, a terrible tragedy for the
community, " Mr. Weyrich said. "It's going to take a long time, but
we will recover."
Mr. Cetin's stepfather said outside the courtroom that his
stepson is struggling with mental-health issues.
"The only thing that we would like to say at this time is that
we're both totally devastated by what happened, we are torn up, we
are hurt," said David Marshall, the stepfather. "Arcan has had
mental-health issues that we have been trying to work on with him,
that's all I can say."
During the hearing, Mr. Marshall comforted the alleged shooter's
mother, who leaned into in his arms crying.
Families of the victims and media packed the small courtroom in
Mount Vernon, exceeding its 49-person capacity. The families filled
three rows, and many cried into tissues handed out by the court
before Mr. Cetin made his appearance.
The court documents filed Monday lay out in greater detail how
Mr. Cetin allegedly carried out his attack at the Cascade Mall.
After walking through the Macy's store, Mr. Cetin went to his
car and retrieved a rifle from the trunk and then went back inside,
the documents said. First, he shot a teenage girl near the clothing
racks, and then walked through the store to the cosmetics counter,
where he shot and killed a man and three women. He put the rifle
that he had used on the cosmetics counter and left the store.
The attack lasted about a minute, court documents said.
Mr. Cetin allegedly drove away from the mall in his blue 2005
Chevy Cavalier. Four women died at the scene. One man died hours
later at a hospital.
Mr. Cetin was born in Turkey and grew up in Oak Harbor, a small
city on Whidbey Island about 50 miles north of Seattle that is
dominated by a Naval Air Station. He was known in his hometown as a
troubled young man with an affinity for guns.
According to documents, Mr. Cetin's stepfather told detectives
he and his stepson had a falling out recently. On the day of the
shooting, the pair had dinner at 4:30 p.m., according to the
documents, and Mr. Cetin told his stepfather he was going to his
job at a gym.
The stepfather told investigators he was missing his Ruger 10/22
rifle as well as .22 ammunition, according to court documents.
According to the Seattle Times, separate court records show he
had faced three domestic-violence assault charges, with the victim
identified as his stepfather. A judge told Mr. Cetin last year he
wasn't to possess a firearm, the Times reported.
Mr. Cetin was arrested on Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, where
he lives in an apartment, after a day-long manhunt in northwest
Washington.
Write to Alejandro Lazo at alejandro.lazo@wsj.com and Zusha
Elinson at zusha.elinson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 27, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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