M Macys Inc

By Alejandro Lazo and Zusha Elinson 

MT. VERNON, Wash. -- Prosecutors on Monday charged the man arrested after a deadly mall shooting with five counts of first-degree premeditated murder and said he confessed to the crime.

Arcan Cetin made his first court appearance since the killings Friday night at a mall in Burlington, Wash., about 60 miles north of Seattle. Prosecutors said Mr. Cetin, 20 years old, walked into a Macy's department store and gunned down five people. Four women and one man died, ranging in age from 16 to 95.

Mr. Cetin, clad in a loose-fitting blue shirt and red pants, with his hands shackled at the waist, said nothing other than "yes, your honor," when asked if he understood the charges and if he had time to consult with an attorney.

The judge appointed a public defender to represent him.

Charging documents don't indicate a motive for the shootings, but they say that Mr. Cetin confessed after being questioned by investigators.

During the interview, Mr. Cetin "said it was him in the video and he did bring the rifle into Macy's and shot all 5 victims," according to the documents.

Mr. Cetin didn't enter a plea. Skagit County District Court Judge David Svaren set bail at $2 million. If he is released on bond, Mr. Cetin is ordered to stay in the country and is banned from possessing firearms. Mr. Cetin signed the order agreeing to the terms with his hands still shackled.

A lawyer representing Mr. Cetin at the hearing made no comments and referred questions to the director of the public defender's office. The director didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Richard Weyrich, the prosecuting attorney for Skagit County, declined to discuss motive. He didn't say whether his office will seek the death penalty. If it doesn't, each charges carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

In 2014, Gov. Jay Inslee suspended carrying out death sentences in the state.

Mr. Weyrich referred questions about terrorism to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which said there were no indications of terrorism but that the investigation was continuing.

"It is a terrible, terrible thing, a terrible tragedy for the community, " Mr. Weyrich said. "It's going to take a long time, but we will recover."

Mr. Cetin's stepfather said outside the courtroom that his stepson is struggling with mental-health issues.

"The only thing that we would like to say at this time is that we're both totally devastated by what happened, we are torn up, we are hurt," said David Marshall, the stepfather. "Arcan has had mental-health issues that we have been trying to work on with him, that's all I can say."

During the hearing, Mr. Marshall comforted the alleged shooter's mother, who leaned into in his arms crying.

Families of the victims and media packed the small courtroom in Mt. Vernon, exceeding its 49-person capacity. The families filled three rows, and many cried into tissues handed out by the court before Mr. Cetin made his appearance.

The court documents filed Monday lay out in greater detail how Mr. Cetin allegedly carried out his attack at the Cascade Mall.

After walking through the Macy's Women's store, Mr. Cetin went back out to his car and allegedly retrieved a rifle from the trunk and then went back inside. First, he shot a teenage girl near the clothing racks, and then walked through the store to the cosmetics counter, where he shot and killed a man and three women, the documents say. He put the rifle that he had used on the cosmetics counter and left the store.

The attack lasted one minute, court documents said. Mr. Cetin allegedly drove away from the mall in his blue 2005 Chevy Cavalier. Four women died at the scene. One man died hours later at a hospital.

Mr. Cetin was born in Turkey and grew up in Oak Harbor, a small city on Whidbey Island about 50 miles north of Seattle that is dominated by a Naval Air Station. He was known in his hometown as a troubled young man with an affinity for guns.

According to documents, Mr. Cetin's stepfather told detectives he and his stepson had a falling out recently. On the day of the shooting, the pair had dinner at 4:30 p.m., according to the documents, and Mr. Cetin told his stepfather he was going to his job at a gym.

The stepfather told investigators he was missing his Ruger 10/22 rifle as well as .22 ammunition, according to court documents.

According to the Seattle Times, separate court records show he had faced three domestic-violence assault charges, with the victim identified as his stepfather. A judge told Mr. Cetin last year he wasn't to possess a firearm, the Times reported.

Mr. Cetin was arrested on Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, where he lives in an apartment, after a day-long manhunt in northwest Washington.

Write to Alejandro Lazo at alejandro.lazo@wsj.com and Zusha Elinson at zusha.elinson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2016 17:21 ET (21:21 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.