MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The young man accused of killing five people in a Washington state shopping mall before leading authorities on a nearly 24-hour manhunt has confessed to the slayings, according to court documents released Monday.
The documents filed in Skagit Court say Arcan Cetin told detectives who interviewed him that "he did bring the rifle into Macy's and shot all 5 victims."
The 20-year-old was arrested Saturday evening after the slayings at the Cascade Mall in Burlington on Friday evening.
Cetin, who faces five charges of premeditated murder, will be making an initial court appearance late Monday morning. Authorities are asking that he be held on a $2 million bond.
Cetin was described by a neighbor as so "creepy, rude and obnoxious" that she kept a Taser by her front door. He also had a string of run-ins with the law in recent years, including charges he assaulted his stepfather.
As investigators tried to piece together information on Cetin, a picture emerged of a troubled young man. Court records show more than a half-dozen criminal cases in Island County alone since 2013.
Authorities said the gunman in the attack at the Cascade Mall opened fire in the department store's cosmetics department Friday night, killing a man and four females ranging from a teenager to a senior citizen. The killer then fled.
Cetin said nothing and appeared "zombie-like" when he was taken into custody on a sidewalk outside his apartment complex some 30 miles away in Oak Harbor by a sheriff's officer who recognized him as the suspect in the rampage, authorities said.
Cetin immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey and is a legal permanent resident, officials said.
Check back with Arkansas Online for updates on this developing story and read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.