Video released of mass shooting inside Burlington Macy's store that left 5 dead

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. --  The Skagit County Prosecutor's Office has released the surveillance video inside the Macy's store during the deadly mass shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington last month.

A lone gunman, armed with a rifle, killed five people in the store on Sept. 23. The suspect, Arcan Cetin, was arrested and is being held on suspicion of five counts of first-degree murder. His bail has been set at $2 million.

The video is graphic and disturbing. It captures the moments when the victims were shot and killed, and the panic that broke out when the gunman opened fire.

It's not something we feel is appropriate to broadcast or on the Q13 News website, because there's no benefit to the public and could be painful to the victims' families.   The only part we feel comfortable showing is the suspect entering the building.



In this clip from one of the surveillance cameras, you can see an armed man walking through the doors at the Macy's store carrying a gun on the evening of Sept. 23.

On Friday night, we asked the Skagit County Prosecutor's Office why they decided to release the video. They say it's in direct response to the public records request from numerous media outlets.

We`re told victim`s families were appalled to learn that the video would be released.

The prosecutor`s office says the video does not add anything to the discourse, and if given the choice, they would not have released it.

We also spoke to the mayor of Burlington, Steve Saxton, and he says he has not seen the video, but asked us to "have discretion when it comes to the release of the video out of respect for the victims' families."

The Sept. 23 shooting left a teenage girl, three women and one man dead. They were: Probation officer Belinda Galde and her 96-year-old mother, Beatrice Dotson; Sarai Lara, a sophomore at Mount Vernon High School; Chuck Eagan, who died protecting his wife from the gunefire; and Shayla Martin, who had been a makeup artist at Macy's for decades.