By Canadian Press

Police check if man tried to buy gun before mall shooting

Sep 29, 2016 | 6:45 PM

SEATTLE — Detectives on Thursday were investigating a tip that the man accused of shooting and killing five people in a mall north of Seattle may have tried unsuccessfully to buy a handgun just hours before the slayings.

Arcan Cetin used a .22-calibre Ruger rifle when he opened fire at a department store cosmetic counter Friday at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, authorities say. Cetin’s stepfather told detectives after the shooting that his Ruger rifle and .22-calibre ammunition were missing.

Authorities were reviewing video to see whether the 20-year-old tried to buy a weapon from a gun store, said Sgt. Mark Francis, spokesman for the Skagit Multi-Agency Response Team.

Cetin, who has a criminal record dating back at least two years and was charged with assaulting his stepfather last year, was ordered by a court not to possess firearms.

After his arrest, Cetin acknowledged to detectives that he was the man captured on security video carrying a Ruger rifle inside the mall, “and he did bring the rifle into Macy’s and shot all five victims,” court documents said.

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He shot them all in one minute and left the rifle with a 25-round magazine on a cosmetics counter before fleeing, police said in the documents. The victims ranged from a 16-year-old girl to a woman in her 90s and included a probation officer and a Boeing maintenance worker.

Cetin was arrested late Saturday in Oak Harbor, about 30 miles from the mall, by a sheriff’s deputy who recognized him. He has been charged with five counts of premediated murder.

Authorities have not revealed any details about a motive, but Cetin’s stepfather, David Marshall, told reporters that his stepson “has mental health issues” for which they tried to get him help.

Cetin was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder and depression, court records show. He had been court-ordered into mental health treatment and involuntarily committed to a hospital.

Lisa Baumann, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

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