News

Chilling Photos From The Washington Mall Shooting

by Lauren Barbato

A manhunt was underway Saturday following a shooting at a Washington state mall that left five people dead. The shooting occurred at about 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, in a Macy's department store at the Cascade Mall, located in Burlington, Washington, about an hour north of Seattle. The shooter reportedly fled to Interstate 5 following the shooting, and an investigation is ongoing.

The Washington State Patrol tweeted a surveillance photo of the alleged gunman late Friday night. The identity of the gunman has yet to be identified. A spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, Sgt. Mark Francis, described the Cascade Mall shooter as a Hispanic male wearing a gray or black shirt, the Washington Post reported. "We're still actively looking for the shooter," Francis said Saturday morning at a news conference. "Stay indoors, stay secure."

The names of the five victims have also not yet been released. According to CNN, four women and one man were among the victims. The Cascade Mall shooter opened fired in the makeup department of a Macy's store, the Associated Press reported. Shoppers in the store at the time described an eerie scene. Tari Caswell, who was in a dressing room at the time, told AP she heard "what sounded like four balloons popping." Then, she heard "seven or eight more, and I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn't feel right."

These photos and videos from the scene on Friday night show a swarm of police and emergency vehicles outside the Macy's entrance. Cascade Mall was evacuated, leaving only a crowd of police and first responders in the mall parking lot.

At a press conference Saturday morning, police officials said they are working on "reconstructing" the entire scene of the shooting. The mall will remain closed until further notice.