Arcan Cetin and the 2016 Cascade Mall Massacre
Overview
On September 23, 2016, 20-year-old Arcan Cetin carried out a mass shooting inside the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. Cetin entered the mall’s Macy’s department store with a rifle and deliberately fired at people in the women’s clothing and cosmetics sections. Four victims died inside the store, while a fifth died at a hospital the following day.
The attack began shortly before 7:00 p.m., when the mall was occupied by employees, families and customers beginning their weekend shopping. Witnesses heard gunfire and fled through store exits or hid inside fitting rooms, offices and storage areas. Cetin abandoned the rifle inside Macy’s and escaped before responding officers secured the building. The shooting resulted in an extensive regional manhunt that ended with Cetin’s arrest approximately 24 hours later.
Arcan Cetin’s Background
Arcan Cetin was born on August 20, 1996, in Adana, Turkey. He immigrated to the United States as a child and later became a naturalized American citizen. He lived with his family in Oak Harbor, Washington, and graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 2015. He had worked as a grocery bagger at the commissary at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
Before the massacre, Cetin had repeatedly come into contact with law enforcement. Court records documented arrests and accusations involving assault and domestic violence, including conflicts with his stepfather. In one case, Cetin was ordered to participate in mental-health counseling and prohibited from consuming alcohol or illegal drugs. He completed the court-ordered counseling in March 2016, approximately six months before the mall attack.
Relatives and acquaintances later described Cetin as socially isolated and prone to sudden anger. Investigators examined his personal relationships, mental-health history and online activity while attempting to determine why he selected the Cascade Mall. Although Cetin’s former girlfriend had once worked at the mall’s Macy’s store, she was no longer employed there and was not present during the shooting.
Events Before the Shooting
On the evening of September 23, 2016, Cetin went to the Cascade Mall and purchased a ticket for a showing of the motion picture Snowden at the mall’s movie theater. Investigators determined that he placed his cellular telephone against an emergency exit door to prevent it from closing and then left the theater. A theater employee discovered the telephone, removed it from the doorway and delivered it to a customer-service area. Cetin returned and retrieved it.
Cetin then traveled to his family’s home in Oak Harbor, where he obtained a Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle that belonged to his stepfather. He did not have permission to take the firearm. Cetin drove back toward Burlington with the rifle and returned to the Cascade Mall later that evening.
The Attack Inside Macy’s
At approximately 6:52 p.m. on September 23, Cetin entered Macy’s carrying the rifle. He proceeded into the store’s women’s clothing area and began firing. Surveillance recordings later showed him moving through the department and shooting victims at close range. The victims appeared to have been selected according to opportunity rather than because of any known personal connection to Cetin.
Sixteen-year-old Sarai Lara was near clothing displays when she was attacked. She had gone shopping with her mother and sister, but the family members had separated to visit different areas of the mall. Lara was alone in Macy’s when Cetin encountered her.
Cetin continued toward the cosmetics department, where Macy’s employee Shayla Martin was working. Belinda Galde and her elderly mother, Beatrice Dotson, were shopping together in the same general area. Cetin fired repeatedly, killing the three women.
Charles “Chuck” Eagan was shopping with his wife. During the confusion, his wife fell, and Eagan attempted to assist her. Cetin shot him several times. Eagan was still alive when emergency personnel reached him and was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but he died from his injuries on September 24, 2016.
After the shooting, Cetin placed or dropped the rifle on a cosmetics counter and walked out of the store. The attack had lasted only a few minutes. Customers and employees continued hiding as law-enforcement officers entered the mall, evacuated survivors and searched for the gunman.
Victims
- Sarai Lara, 16 — Killed on September 23, 2016, inside Macy’s at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. Lara was a sophomore at Mount Vernon High School and had survived cancer as a child. She was shopping with her mother and sister before becoming separated from them inside the mall.
- Shayla Martin, 52 — Killed on September 23, 2016, in the cosmetics department of Macy’s at the Cascade Mall. Martin worked as a makeup artist at the store and was remembered by relatives as kind, independent and devoted to her family.
- Belinda Galde, 64 — Killed on September 23, 2016, inside Macy’s while shopping with her mother. Galde had worked for the Snohomish County District Court for many years and was described by colleagues as a compassionate and dependable public employee.
- Beatrice Dotson, 95 — Killed on September 23, 2016, inside Macy’s at the Cascade Mall. Dotson was shopping with her daughter, Belinda Galde, when both women were attacked.
- Charles “Chuck” Eagan, 61 — Shot on September 23, 2016, while attempting to help his wife inside Macy’s. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and died on September 24, 2016. Eagan was a Boeing maintenance employee, a husband and the father of two daughters.
The Search for the Gunman
Police officers arrived at the Cascade Mall within minutes, but Cetin had already escaped. Initial witness accounts caused some confusion concerning the gunman’s appearance, and authorities released surveillance images showing a thin man dressed in dark clothing and carrying a rifle. The mall remained closed as tactical teams searched stores, hallways and service areas for additional victims or attackers.
The Burlington Police Department led the investigation with assistance from the Washington State Patrol, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigators recovered the abandoned rifle and examined mall surveillance recordings. Tips from members of the public helped authorities identify Cetin and connect him to Oak Harbor.
Cetin returned to Oak Harbor after the shooting. On the evening of September 24, 2016, Island County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Mike Hawley observed Cetin walking near Oak Harbor Road and Northeast Seventh Avenue. Hawley recognized him from the surveillance photographs, turned his vehicle around and confronted him. Cetin obeyed commands, lay on the ground and was arrested without gunfire or further injury. He was unarmed when taken into custody.
Confession and Criminal Charges
After his arrest, Cetin was questioned by detectives. On September 26, 2016, authorities announced that he had confessed to carrying out the shooting. He admitted taking his stepfather’s rifle, returning to the Cascade Mall and shooting people inside Macy’s. He was initially charged with five counts of first-degree premeditated murder.
Prosecutors later upgraded the charges to five counts of aggravated first-degree murder. At the time, aggravated murder in Washington could result in life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty. The prosecution had not announced a final decision regarding whether it would seek a death sentence before Cetin’s death.
Cetin appeared in court under heightened security and was held in the Snohomish County Jail. His defense attorneys raised concerns regarding his mental condition and ability to understand the proceedings. In January 2017, a judge approved a defense request for a formal competency evaluation. Cetin was awaiting further legal and psychological review when the case ended.
Questions About Motive
Investigators never established a single, definitive motive for the massacre. Early speculation focused on Cetin’s former girlfriend because she had previously worked at Macy’s. Authorities determined that she had left the store months earlier and was living in another county at the time of the attack. None of the five victims was known to have had a personal relationship with Cetin.
Authorities also reviewed Cetin’s online activity and statements about violent criminals and extremist organizations. Cetin reportedly expressed interest in the Islamic State during questioning, but investigators found no evidence that he had communicated with the organization or acted under its direction. Officials stated that they had not uncovered evidence showing that the Cascade Mall shooting was an organized terrorist attack.
The available evidence instead indicated that Cetin entered Macy’s and attacked vulnerable strangers without warning. Surveillance recordings showed that he passed some people while firing at others, but investigators found no clear pattern explaining his decisions. Because Cetin died before trial, prosecutors never presented their complete evidence in open court, and many questions concerning his thoughts and intentions remained unresolved.
Death of Arcan Cetin
On April 16, 2017, Cetin was found hanging in his cell at the Snohomish County Jail in Everett, Washington. Jail personnel attempted emergency medical treatment, but he was pronounced dead. He was 20 years old. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office investigated the death and concluded that Cetin had died by suicide.
Cetin’s death brought the criminal prosecution to an end before a trial could be held. There was therefore no jury verdict, sentencing hearing or opportunity for the victims’ families to confront him in court. The evidence collected by investigators, including his confession and the mall’s surveillance recordings, nevertheless established his responsibility for the five killings.
Community Impact and Remembrance
The massacre deeply affected Burlington and surrounding communities in Skagit, Island and Snohomish counties. Vigils were held for the victims, and residents gathered in churches and public spaces to mourn. Flowers, candles and written messages were placed near the Cascade Mall as families, coworkers, classmates and community members remembered those who had been killed.
The Cascade Mall reopened after the crime scene was processed, but the attack permanently changed the location for many employees and shoppers. Survivors described lasting emotional trauma, including fear of crowded public places and vivid memories of hiding while gunfire echoed through the store.
The five victims represented several generations, ranging from a 16-year-old student to a 95-year-old mother and grandmother. They had gone to the mall for ordinary reasons: to work, shop or spend time with family. Their deaths on September 23 and September 24, 2016, remain the central tragedy of the Cascade Mall massacre.
