Turkish Burlington mall shooter found dead in cell

NEW YORK

The Turkish-origin gunman of the last year’s deadly shooting at a shopping mall in Burlington, Washington, has been found dead in his cell in the Skagit County jail, the prosecuting attorney has said.

Arcan Çetin, 20, hung himself in his cell, according to a Skagit regional prosecutor, Doğan News Agency reported.

Çetin killed five people in a shooting incident at the Cascade Mall on Sept. 23, 2016 and was later handed a life sentence.

He was detained on the following day in his hometown Oak Harbor, Washington and confessed to the shooting two days later.

The 20-year-old was charged with five counts of first-degree murder and faced the death penalty. The charges alleged that Çetin acted with “premeditated intent” when he used a rifle to kill a teenage girl, three women, and a man at the Macy’s women’s store inside the mall 65 miles north of Seattle.

Online records show Çetin was arrested in June 2016 for a misdemeanor assault. He was not convicted but he was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation in August 2016. He was in compliance with weekly mental counseling as of August. 

He also faced charges in 2014 for domestic violence and was ordered to stay away from his parents after a no-contact order was issued. 

His stepfather, David Marshall, previously told the media that Çetin “has had mental health issues that we have been working with him on.”