Arcan Cetin
Arcan Cetin, 20, of Oak Harbor is seen in a Washington State Department of Licensing photo released by the Washington State Patrol after they announced his capture in relation to a mass shooting in Burlington, Washington Washington State Patrol/Handout via Reuters.

A suspect in the shooting at the Washington state mall, which killed five people on Friday, (24 September) has been arrested, officials said.

The suspected gunman was caught by officials on Saturday, Sergeant Mark Francis tweeted, and has been confirmed by Skagit County Department of Emergency Management. Officials identified the suspect as 20-year-old Arcan Cetin of Oak Harbour, Washington, a town 30 miles away from the crime spot.

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Cetin was not armed at the time of the arrest and was "kind of zombie-like", said Lieutanant Lt Mike Hawley of the Island County Sheriff's Office. He added that the suspect was walking down a street near his residence in Oak Harbour, when he was confronted by police.

At a news conference, Mount Vernon police Lieutenant Chris Cammock said Cetin was arrested previously for simple assault and was a legal, permanent resident of the US.

On Friday night, a gunman opened fire at the Cascade Mall, which left four women and one man dead. The suspect fled the scene and a massive search operation was launched by the police for more than 20 hours. Initially, witnesses described the suspect to be a young Hispanic male wearing a black shirt and shorts.

Security cameras showed the suspect entering the mall unarmed. Ten minutes later he was seen entering the Macy's department store with a hunting type rifle, police said.

Steve Sexton, Mayor of Burlington said on Saturday: "There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don't think our way of life needs to change.

"This was a senseless act. It was the world knocking on our doorstep, and it came into our little community."

Burlington is located around 105km (65 miles) north of Seattle.

The motive of the shooter still remain unclear but the FBI said there was no evidence to link the act to terrorism.

On Saturday evening, a prayer service was held for the five victims at the Central United Methodist Church in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, where five candles were lit for each of the victims on a table in front of the church.