Police were yesterday searching for a gunman who authorities said opened fire in the makeup department of a Macy’s store at a mall north of Seattle, killing four women and one man before fleeing toward a highway on foot.
People fled, customers hid in dressing rooms and employees locked the doors of nearby stores after gunshots rang out just after 7pm on Friday at the Cascade Mall. A helicopter, search teams and K9 units scoured the area for a rifle-carrying man.
“We are still actively looking for the shooter,” Washington State Patrol spokesman Sergeant Mark Francis said at a news conference. “Stay indoors, stay secure.”
Photo: EPA
Francis said police were seeking a Hispanic man wearing black and armed with a “hunting-type” rifle last seen walking toward Interstate 5.
Authorities said the motive was unknown for the shooting about 97km north of Seattle.
The FBI was assisting local authorities as dozens of police officers searched for the suspect.
The FBI’s Seattle office said on Twitter that it “has no information to suggest additional attacks planned” in Washington State, but did not elaborate.
A man died early yesterday at a Seattle hospital; authorities had previously announced the deaths of four women. No other details about those killed were provided, including their ages.
Tari Caswell told the Skagit Valley Herald that she was in a 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,” she said. “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.”
Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino’s Italian restaurant near the Macy’s, said 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 told reporters. “It was frantic.”
She said he could see police at the doors and said they were no longer guarding the doors as of 9:30pm.
Francis said at about 8:30pm that the mall had been evacuated and emergency medical personnel were cleared to enter.
Francis said authorities were still doing a “final clear” of the mall late on Friday night.
He said 11 search teams and two K9 units were involved.
The parking lot was closed and emergency management officials told people they would be able to retrieve vehicles yesterday, though the mall said it would be closed for the day.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee said tragedy had struck the state.
“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,” Inslee said in a statement.
The Cascade Mall is an enclosed shopping mall that opened in 1990, according to the mall’s Web site. It features J.C. Penney, TJ Maxx and Macy’s stores, among other shops, restaurants and a movie theater.
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