Suspect in Washington state mall shootings found dead in cell

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The gunman accused of killing five people during a shooting rampage last year inside a Washington state shopping mall has been found dead in his jail cell, a local official said on Monday.

Arcan Cetin, who was being held on five counts of aggravated murder, was found hanging in his cell at the Snohomish County jail on Sunday night, according to Rosemary Kaholokula, a prosecutor with the Skagit County prosecutor's office.

He had been evaluated by doctors at Western State psychiatric hospital and the results of the mental competency exam were expected at a hearing next week, she said.

Cetin, 20, a Turkish-born legal U.S. resident, confessed to police investigators that he had brought a .22-caliber rifle into a department store at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, on Sept. 23, 2016, and shot five people.

Law enforcement officials said after the shooting that they had found no evidence linking Cetin to any known Islamist militant groups or individuals.

Cetin had been facing the death penalty, although Washington's governor announced a moratorium on executions in the state in 2014.

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