Records document mall shooting suspect’s tormented past
By Jessie Stensland | Whidbey News-Times | Tuesday Oct 4th, 2016OAK HARBOR — Arcan Cetin did not fall through the cracks.
Cetin’s struggle with mental health problems is well documented, as are the efforts made by the criminal justice system, treatment providers and his family to get him help, court documents and mental health records show.
Authorities haven’t said what the 20-year-old Oak Harbor man’s motives might have been for allegedly shooting five strangers to death at the Cascade Mall in Burlington on Sept. 23, but his history of mental health issues will almost certainly be an important element in the case.
The records suggest that Cetin’s problems were complex and deep-seated.
Cetin’s mother had him out of wedlock in Turkey, which socially stigmatized them both, according to an email a defense attorney sent to a prosecutor last year. Cetin witnessed his mother being beaten by her father and brothers daily; he also allegedly was abused by the men, who even chased him with knives.
Cetin suffered from an injury at birth that affects his ability to move an arm and caused one arm to be significantly shorter than the other. He was run over by a bus when he was 6, which broke his pelvis and left him unable to walk for months. He suffered kidney failure. He is extremely socially awkward, the attorney wrote.
“Arcan has yet to complete high school and still has an entire life ahead of him,” attorney Brent Thompson wrote last year. “I believe he is intelligent and very bright, but is struggling psychologically.”
Cetin has been diagnosed with or was suspected of suffering from at least 13 different disorders, including post traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder, autism, depression, fetal alcohol syndrome, intermittent explosive disorder, disruptive disorder, and several substance abuse disorders, according to mental health records.
Reports state that Cetin’s drug of choice was alcohol and that he also used marijuana on a regular basis. In fact, court documents state that he smoked pot prior to each of three assaults he was charged with committing in Oak Harbor.
Cetin has seen at least four mental health treatment providers in his life and was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in November 2015 after a suicide attempt. He was being treated with three different psychiatric drugs as of last year.
Cetin is being held in Skagit County on suspicion of five counts of first-degree murder. His criminal history consists of three misdemeanor assaults.
More at link:
http://www.heraldnet.com/news/cascade-m ... al-health/