Police are hunting for the shooter who fled after opening fire on crowds with a rifle inside a Macy’s department store at the shopping centre near Seattle.
Officers said they are searching for a Hispanic man, who wore black and was last seen heading towards the Interstate 5 motorway after the incident at the Cascade Mall in Burlington.They later issued a CCTV image of the suspect armed with a rifle.The gunman’s motive is not yet known.
Four women were killed at the scene and a man injured in the attack later died in hospital.Another woman suffered non-life threatening injuries.Terrified shoppers ran for their lives as the mall was evacuated at about 8.30pm local time.
One witness, Tari Caswell, told reporters she was in the women’s dressing room at Macy’s when she heard “what sounded like four balloons popping”.She added: “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.”
Stephanie Bose, an assistant general manager at Johnny Carino’s Italian restaurant near 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 said. “It was frantic.”
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.” he said
