Gunman kills 5 at a Washington state mall

[OddBall]

Link:
Hunt on for gunman who killed 5, including 4 women, at Washington mall | Fox News

Police were searching for a gunman who killed four women and a man at a Washington state mall Friday before fleeing the area.

Washington State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Francis said police were searching for a Hispanic man wearing black and armed with a rifle who was last seen walking toward Interstate 5 near the Cascade Mall in Burlington.
"Stay indoors, stay secure," Francis said at a news conference.

The male victim was airlifted to a Seattle hospital with critical injuries. Washington State Patrol Trooper Heather Axtman told "Fox & Friends" Saturday morning that the man had died.

Related Image

Mallshooting880558Expand / Contract
This image taken from surveillance video shows the suspect in the Washington state mall shooting (Skagit County Department of Emergency Management)
Authorities initially said four people were killed, then said three were dead, before revising the number again late Friday. Francis said the number fluctuated as authorities searched the 434,000-square-foot mall. The sergeant said the victims were shot in the makeup department of the mall's Macy's store at approximately 7 p.m. local time.
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Governor Jay Inslee ✔ @GovInslee
Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight. Our hearts are in Burlington where a shooter has taken the lives of at least four people.
12:29 AM - 24 Sep 2016
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Authorities released a surveillance image of the suspect walking through the store and holding a rifle. Francis said police did not know the gunman's motive and could not say whether he targeted the victims. He said the ages of the victims appeared to range from their 20s to elderly, but had no further identifying information.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement that many questions remain but state patrol and local law enforcement are on the scene working swiftly to locate the shooter and clear the area.
"Trudi and I send our condolences to the families of the victims and prayers for anyone injured," Inslee said. "We urge residents to heed all safety and detour warnings. Stay close to your friends and loved ones as we await more information and, hopefully, news of the suspect's capture."

The FBI's Seattle office announced that it was assisting local investigators with intelligence reviews and manpower. The bureau said on Twitter that it "has no information to suggest additional attacks planned" in Washington state but did not elaborate.
Tari Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald she was in the Macy's women's dressing room when she heard "what sounded like four balloons popping."
"Then I heard seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn't feel right. And it got very quiet. And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store," Caswell told the newspaper.
Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino's Italian restaurant near Macy's, told the Associated Press she immediately locked the doors to the restaurant after hearing about the shooting from an employee's boyfriend.

"He was trying to go to the mall and people were screaming," she said. "It was frantic."
She said he could see police at the doors with assault rifles and said they were no longer guarding the doors as of 9:30 p.m. local time.
Authorities have closed all access roads and streets surrounding the mall until further notice. Visitors and workers who were released from the mall after being locked down were taken to a nearby church to meet their loved ones.

Burlington is located approximately 65 miles north of Seattle. The Cascade Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Burlington, Washington that opened in 1990, according to the mall's website. It features J.C. Penney, TJ Maxx, and Macy's stores, among other stores, restaurants and a movie theater.

On Sept. 17 a man stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall before being shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Authorities say Dahir Ahmed Adan, 20, stabbed the people at the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud

[Bill]

Too bad one of the petite little make up ladies didn't have a CCW and just end the issue right there. I wonder if this is another "gun free zone" success story?

[OddBall]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Too bad one of the petite little make up ladies didn't have a CCW and just end the issue right there. I wonder if this is another "gun free zone" success story?

I believe that is was indeed a gun free zone.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by OddBall

I believe that is was indeed a gun free zone.

yup, 'pretend gun free zone'

[Barn Babe]

Originally Posted by OddBall

I believe that is was indeed a gun free zone.

But... but... why did he have a gun in a gun-free zone???

[Bill]

Seattle-Area Mall Shooting That Killed 5 Shows 'No Evidence' of Terrorism: FBI


MORGAN WINSOR
Updated 35 mins ago

The FBI said today that there is no indication of a terrorism link in a shooting at a Seattle-area mall that left five people dead.

"We have no indication this was a terrorism act," Michael Knutson, assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI, said at a press conference this morning. "There is no evidence to support that."

But Knutson cautioned, "I cannot discount it."

Authorities are still searching for the gunman, who is believed to have acted alone and was last seen armed with a rifle after four women and a man were fatally shot Friday night at a shopping mall about 65 miles north of Seattle. The weapon has since been recovered, officials said.

At the news conference this morning, Mount Vernon Police Lt. Chris Cammock said authorities do not know the name of the suspect, who has been described as a Hispanic male with "dark hair" in his late teens to early 20s wearing black clothes, based on surveillance footage obtained from inside the mall.

The suspect was last seen walking toward Interstate 5. His whereabouts are currently unknown and police appealed to the public for help. Investigators released screen grabs of the suspect from the surveillance footage.

"We could certainly use the community's help on that," Cammock told reporters this morning.

As seen on surveillance footage, police said the suspect entered Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, on Friday night without a weapon. He then appeared on video about 10 minutes later in the makeup department at Macy's with a rifle and opened fire before 7 p.m. local time, authorities said. Law enforcement officers responding to the shooting locked down the mall and searched it, but later found out that the suspect had fled prior to their arrival, police said.

While there's no evidence at this point to link the violence to terrorism, Lt. Cammock said the motive for the deadly shooting is unknown.

In addition to the four women who died earlier, a man who had sustained life-threatening injuries died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle early Saturday morning, several hours after he had been transported there, according to Sgt. Mark Francis, a public information officer with the Washington State Patrol.

During the press conference this morning, police said the ages of the female victims ranged from teens to seniors, and there was no information on the age of the male victim. Skagit County Coroner Hayley Thompson said the victims' identities will be released once autopsies are complete and next of kin have been notified.

Police initially said four people were dead, but then revised the figure to three, before updating it back to four fatalities. And police initially said one female sustained non-life threatening injuries, but that was incorrect. Francis said the numbers fluctuated as authorities searched the 400,000 square-foot mall.

Mall employees and shoppers said they hid in stores and fitting rooms during the shooting.

"Out of nowhere I just hear somebody yell and then after that, I turn around and just look at the Macy's and I just hear shots," Armando Patino, who was working at the mall's T-Mobile store, told ABC affiliate KOMO. "I hear one shot and then stand kinda still and like two three other people start running out saying gun."

Patino added, "I turn around and run to the store. Some people didn't know where to go. I just moved them into the [T-Mobile] store. We went in the back where we have a door and everything and we just stayed there until they told us to evacuate."

Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino's Italian restaurant near Macy's department store at the mall, told The Associated Press she immediately locked the doors to the restaurant after hearing about the shooting from an employee's boyfriend.

"He was trying to go to the mall and people were screaming," Bose said. "It was frantic."

And Tari Caswell, a shopper in the women's dressing room in Macy's told the Skagit Valley Herald she heard "what sounded like four balloons popping."

"Then I heard seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn't feel right. And it got very quiet," Caswell said. "And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store."

Law enforcement officers performed an initial sweep of the mall Friday night to ensure it had been evacuated, followed by a secondary search. Police said they spent at least an hour interviewing some 20 witnesses Friday night.

In addition to state and local law enforcement, both the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting the investigation.

In a statement Friday night, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee urged residents "heed all safety and detour warnings. Stay close to your friends and loved ones as we await more information and, hopefully, news of the suspect's capture."

And at the news conference this morning, Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton called the shooting a "senseless act" that has forever changed the city.

"But I don't think our way of life needs to change forever," Sexton told reporters. "We're going to get beyond this.

ABC News' Matthew Fuhrman, Neal Karlinsky, Alyssa Pone, Jessica Rooney, Benjamin Stein and Devin Villacis contributed to this report.

[OddBall]

Since the guy left, I don't think this was a spree killer that wanted to shoot up the place until he was taken out.

Since he was described as an Hispanic. I see three probabilities. (I could be wrong though, just speculating)

He could indeed be Hispanic and this was a jealous rage shooting.
He could indeed be Hispanic and this was a hit.
He could indeed be Hispanic with a name like Jesus Saed Mohamed, if you know what I mean.

[69camfrk]

Turkish immigrant with violent history according to the news this morning. Just another peaceful muzzie......

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by 69camfrk

Turkish immigrant with violent history according to the news this morning. Just another peaceful muzzie......

Turkey has had more attacks from Muzzies that all of us.
The lone wolf whack jobs are impossible to contain.
I rue the day when they throw a coordinated attack on US soil.
It'll be ugly, as you've seen before.

[Bill]

So, let's recap. A recent immigrant from a place where Muslim terrorism is running rampant.

But yeah, let's blame it on a Hispanic. Looks like the police would rather be racist than upset a certain religious group.

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by 69camfrk

Turkish immigrant with violent history according to the news this morning. Just another peaceful muzzie......

Technically, he's a Hillary-supporting member of the Religion of Peace. Just pointing that out, because if he was a white dude and was found to be a Trump-supporting member of the NRA, that's all you'd hear about.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by Cybercowboy

Technically, he's a Hillary-supporting member of the Religion of Peace. Just pointing that out, because if he was a white dude and was found to be a Trump-supporting member of the NRA, that's all you'd hear about.

So true

[VITE1]

I am in Tacoma this weekend. None of the local staions reported that the shooter is an immigrant.

[Vette40th]

So the kid was imported as a child. He apparently just broke up with someone that worked at Macy's, where the attack occurred.
Regardless, he terrorized a bunch of people.

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

Turkey has had more attacks from Muzzies that all of us.
The lone wolf whack jobs are impossible to contain.
I rue the day when they throw a coordinated attack on US soil.
It'll be ugly, as you've seen before.

I also am waiting for the VBIED, car/truck bomb, in Europe. But maybe the bad guys don't really need it since they can just drive over people and cause as much physical and psychological damage.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

I also am waiting for the VBIED, car/truck bomb, in Europe. But maybe the bad guys don't really need it since they can just drive over people and cause as much physical and psychological damage.

I'm waiting for a coordinated chemical attack of the water systems or taking out multiple electrical systems in one fell swoop.
We've been really lucky so far, except for 9-11.

[69camfrk]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

I'm waiting for a coordinated chemical attack of the water systems or taking out multiple electrical systems in one fell swoop.
We've been really lucky so far, except for 9-11.

It's coming, and we all know it. Anyone who believes otherwise is in denial, and I ain't talkin' about the river!!

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by 69camfrk

It's coming, and we all know it. Anyone who believes otherwise is in denial, and I ain't talkin' about the river!!

The average American is just not ready for anything of that magnitude. They get upset when the internet goes out for five minutes. Or they get cut off by another driver in traffic. I read a book a coupla years back, One Second After, that details the break down of society after an attack. It pretty much lays out what happens when society isn't held together by all the comforts of modern times.

[VatorMan]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

The average American is just not ready for anything of that magnitude. They get upset when the internet goes out for five minutes. Or they get cut off by another driver in traffic. I read a book a coupla years back, One Second After, that details the break down of society after an attack. It pretty much lays out what happens when society isn't held together by all the comforts of modern times.

I second that book. Very scary. You better know how to farm or fix shit or you on the outside looking in.

[SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84]

I third that book! A real wakeup to what happens when all the order evaporates....