
Molly Bridges Twitter profile photo (Twitter/Molly Bridges)
Molly Bridges is a 22-year-old woman living in Puyallup, Washington, who may have had a previous relationship with Arcan Cetin, 20, the man arrested on Saturday in Oak Harbor, Washington, in connection with the Cascade Mall mass shooting that killed five people on Friday evening.
Since Cetin’s arrest Saturday, Bridges’ name has become the object of wild and unfounded speculation on social media and elsewhere online. But what are the actual facts about Bridges?
Here’s what is known about her so far.
1. Cetin Publicly Expressed His Love For Her
In a Twitter posting dated October 19, 2014, Cetin announced his love for his “girlfriend” whom he named as Molly Bridges. Four days later, he posted another Tweet declaring his desire to “prove” his love for her.
In an August 10, 2014 Facebook post, Bridges referred to Cetin as her “incredible boyfriend.” But in March of the following year, she began dating a different young man, according to her page.
Witness reports from the Cascade Mall said that the shooter called out a woman’s name, according to The New York Times. But police have declined comment, and there have been no credible reports as to what that name might have been, if indeed the shooter did call it out.
Bridges was not among the victims of the Cascade Mall shooting. Puyallup, where she now lives, is about 100 miles south of Burlington, Washington.
2. Shortly After Cetin’s Tweet, Police Chased a “Man With a Gun” in Her Town
On October 27 — four days after Cetin posted about his inability to “prove” his love for Bridges, the young woman posted a tweet on her Twitter feed from a news alert about a “man with a gun” in Puyallup, Washington, the city of about 38,000 people, roughly 35 miles south of Seattle, where Bridges lives, according to her Facebook. The threat was apparently serious enough that businesses were asked by police to “shelter in place.”
There is no known connection between Cetin and the “man with a gun” in Puyallup.
3. She Previously Worked at Macy’s
The five victims were killed in a Macy’s department store in the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. Bridges says on her Facebook page that she had worked at Macy’s, though she does not specify whether or not she worked at the Cascade Mall location. According to her Facebook page, she has worked since April at a massage therapy center, Massage Envy. She left Macy’s in April, 2015, her Facebook says.
4. Cetin and Bridges Worked at the Same Grocery Store
Cetin once worked as a bagger at the Oak Harbor store Whidbey Island Commissary, according to his Facebook page and reported in the media. Cetin’s Facebook has since been deleted.
Bridges also says on her page that she was a bagger at that store from March through August of 2014. The Commissary is a store that serves United States Armed Forces service members.
5. She Nominated Cetin for the Ice Bucket Challenge
Bridges was one of thousands of social media users who posted an “ice bucket challenge” video, as seen above, to her Facebook page back in the summer of 2014. She “tagged” Cetin in the post, but whether he ever took part in the “challenge” is unclear.
According to a profile she posted on the site WashingtonBabysitters.com, offering her services as a babysitter, her father is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, and she has certifications in first aid and CPR.
