Has it ever happened to you? You open yourself up to a new, promising friendship and do what friends do: You share your heart, your secrets, your resources, your life. You truly open up, don’t hold anything back and you assume your friend views the relationship the way you do.

But. You discover you assumed wrong.

Well, so did I.

What I considered a friendship, she considered more of a cooperative. There was no loyalty, only an interest in what I could contribute and when I’d contributed my resources, my “friend” wrote me off. Nice little goodbye note included.

Y’all, it blindsided me.

I’m not the most gullible, trusting thing around (you can’t be to write a book called Trust Without Borders,right?) and I typically test the waters before jumping into the pool, but this one felt safe. It felt real.

I discovered what I was hoping and aiming for—something deep and genuine—was more than this person could give. At the very least, it was more than she was willing to give me, which not only hurt but made me wonder what was wrong with me for someone to throw away a perfectly good friend?

This stuff gets messy, doesn’t it? Friends can strike us deeply because we’ve opened up the deep places and let them in. David knew about that, didn’t he?

So what do you do when you’ve been betrayed? Today I’d like to share a few key truths that have helped me navigate the pain of rejection and fulfill that scary command to forgive those who hurt you.

 Realize the action done against you is not the worst thing.

The most damaging threat is never what someone does to hurt me. Far more damaging than a wound is the lie Satan wants to seed that wound with. Pain, oppression and woundedness are fertile ground for the devil’s lies … which leads to the second lesson:

Someone’s choice to hurt you reflects very little on who you are and a lot on who they are.

One of the biggest lies I’ve faced in this situation is that this person’s choice must say something about my worth. I mean, what kind of person must I be for someone to value friendship with me so lightly? What must others see in me to only value an opportunity, not a real person? I really questioned what was wrong with me … until I shared my feelings with a friend who shot me straight. She said, “Her choice says something about her, not about you.”

Friends, the more I thought about that, the clearer the truth of that statement became! Think about it. That’s gold right there.

Here’s the third truth: I can afford to forgive wrongs done against me.

This last truth is so precious! When this took root in my heart, I found that peace, forgiveness, and a spirit of generosity washed over me like never before. This came while reading Deuteronomy 15, one of my favorite passages about forgiveness.

You’ll recall that in Old Testament times the Israelites were to loan fellow Israelites whatever they needed. While you and I think of loans as something to be repaid (they should be, btw!) the Israelites had a twist to their understanding of a loan because every seventh year, they were to write them off!

In Deuteronomy 15:1 God instructed them “At the end of every seventh year, cancel the debts of everyone who owes you.” Now think about this with me: Why would God tell them to do that? Is that fair? Is it just? What if someone tried to use you or take advantage of you, knowing you’d have to write the debt off? What was God thinking to ask this? This was an invitation to be a doormat, right?

Well, you really need to read Deuteronomy 15 to discover the beauty of this for yourself, but basically God was telling them, “I’m going to bless you. You have my favor. And because of that, you can afford to write stuff off.”

Wow. Oh, wow.

This is so very important to understand. We can afford to cancel debts, hurts and wrongdoings against us because we are backed by the blessing, favor and wealth of God. There is absolutely no way for us to lose.

The question is, am I going to live as one dearly loved and richly blessed? Or am I going to live as one wounded and stolen from?

When I switch my thinking to line up with the promises of God in His Word and through the person of Jesus Christ, forgiveness becomes something I readily do from the heart.

Friend, I don’t know what you are facing today but if you are wondering how to move beyond hurt and betrayal and truly let it go, I trust the Lord has spoken to your spirit today and is giving you truth that sets you free.

May we both be generous with forgiveness for a generous man will prosper.

Arabah Joy is a wife to Jackson and adoptive and bio mom of four children. She is also a missionary and has lived in Asia for the past 13 years. Her latest book is Trust Without Borders. Her passion is to make Jesus known and help others bask in His glory. Visit to connect.

Authorities on Sunday were still working to determine what prompted a 20-year-old man to open fire in a Washington state mall, killing five people.

Police arrested the suspected gunman, Arcan Cetin of Oak Harbor, Washington, on Saturday. Police said he was taken into custody without incident in Oak Harbor, some 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Burlington where the shooting occurred on Friday night.

Cetin opened fire at the Cascade Mall around 7 p.m. local time on Friday in the cosmetics section of a Macy’s department store, police said, killing four women as well as one man who died later at a hospital.

Police said what motivated Cetin’s rampage remains unclear. The FBI said while they had no indication the attack was a “terrorism act,” it could not be ruled out.

Police described Cetin’s demeanor when apprehended as “zombie like,” and said he was unarmed. Police said Cetin was born in Turkey, but described his status as that of a “legal, permanent resident” in the United States.

Authorities have not identified the victims, but local media said they ranged in age from mid-teens to mid-90s, and included a mother and her daughter.

Surveillance video from the mall in Burlington, around 65 miles (105 km) north of Seattle, showed the gunman brandishing the weapon, police said. Police said the gun was later recovered at the mall.

The mall attack followed a series of violent outbursts at shopping centers across the United States, including the stabbing of nine people at a Minnesota center last weekend.

Police said Cetin is set to appear in court on Monday.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco, editing by Louise Heavens)

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

Charlotte police released body camera and dashboard videos on Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a black man that triggered protests in the North Carolina city, but the footage did not show whether the victim was holding a gun.

A dashboard camera from a police car showed Keith Scott, killed on Tuesday, exiting his car and backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that he has anything in his hand. Then shots break out and Scott drops to the ground.

A second body camera video from an officer does not show the moment of shooting. It shows Scott outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand. Then the officer moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney announced the release of the video at an earlier briefing, following days of demonstrations at which protesters demanded that authorities allow the public to see clips of the Tuesday shooting.

Putney said before releasing the footage that the videos themselves were “insufficient” to prove that Scott held a gun. But the totality of evidence did, he said.

“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer. That I did not visually see in the video,” Putney said. “But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that.”

Police also released pictures including one of a handgun it says was recovered at the scene and an ankle holster police say Scott was wearing.

The news conference came as demonstrators on Saturday mounted a fifth day of protests in Charlotte. They called for the end of emergency measures imposed on the city this week, the removal of National Guard troops and for officers involved in the incident to be prosecuted.

The shooting of Scott, a 43-year-old father of seven, was the latest in a series of deadly police encounters across the country in recent years that has raised questions about the use of force by U.S. law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities. {eoa}

(Additional reporting by David Bailey and Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Will Dunham and Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Mary Milliken)

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

A manhunt was underway on Saturday in northwest Washington state for a gunman who opened fire with a rifle in a shopping mall and killed five people before disappearing under the cover of darkness, authorities said.

The suspect entered the Cascade Mall in Burlington, around 65 miles (105 km) north of Seattle, and began shooting at about 7 p.m. local time on Friday in the cosmetics section of a Macy’s department store, police said.

The unidentified suspect, who police described on Twitter as a Hispanic male, initially walked into the shopping center without the rifle but surveillance video later caught him brandishing the weapon, said Lt. Chris Cammock of the Mount Vernon Police Department at briefing on Saturday.

The rifle was later recovered at the mall, said Cammock, who is commander of the Skagit County Multi-Agency Response Team.

Four women were killed in the rampage, which police believe was carried out by a lone gunman. Later a man who was seriously wounded in the shooting died at a local hospital. None of the victims were identified.

Steve Sexton, the mayor of Burlington, described the shooting as a “senseless act.”

“It was the world knocking on our doorstep and it came to our little community here,” he said before acknowledging the response by law enforcement. “I know now our support goes with them to bring this ‘expletive’ to justice.”

Authorities offered no information about a possible motive for the attack, which followed a series of violent outbursts at shopping centers across the United States, including the stabbing of nine people at a Minnesota center last weekend.

“We have no indication that we have a terrorism act,” said Michael Knutson, assistant special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Seattle office. “I can’t discount that, but I can’t conclude it either.”

After the shooting, police and rescue workers worked their way through the mall, clearing stores and evacuating shoppers, some of whom locked themselves in dressing rooms. The mall remained closed on Saturday as investigators sifted for evidence and attempted to recreate the crime scene.

Cammock said police had no clues about the identity or whereabouts of the suspect, and asked the public for help in tracking him down.

Authorities released a grainy photo of the suspect taken by a surveillance camera. It shows a young male in his late teens or mid-20s with short dark hair, dressed in dark shorts and T-shirt and carrying a rifle.

Local authorities searched through the night for the gunman and warned residents to remain indoors, though later said the area was safe.

The suspect was last seen walking toward an interstate highway that runs past the mall, which is 45 miles south of the Canadian province of British Columbia.

When asked why police had described the suspect as Hispanic, Cammock told reporters he believed those who saw the photo made the statement based on his dark complexion.

The shooting comes less than a week after a man stabbed nine people at a mall in the central Minnesota city of St. Cloud before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer. The FBI is investigating that attack as a potential act of terrorism. {eoa}

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

This month I’ve been working through a personal prayer challenge. I say “work” because it’s, well, been work, but not in the sense you may be thinking. Actually, to be quite honest, it’s really brought me to my knees—literally.

A friend of mine challenged me to commit to a month of prayer on my knees. And so this past month, and you may laugh at this (just please don’t judge), it’s been exactly that: quite the challenge!

You may be able to relate to my experience so far.

I had made the decision to undertake this challenge a few weeks before the beginning of school. This time of year usually brings both a sense of excitement and overwhelm, I thought, so what better time to make a concerted and renewed effort in prayer to the Lord?

To give you a little background, let me tell you that I’m pretty good at maintaining a consistent quiet time. Like most of us, there are busy (or, to be honest, lazy) periods that I go through, but for the most part, my favorite way to start the day is with a cuppa, my Bible, and the sunrise—on the chair facing the window in our spare bedroom.

It wasn’t always like that. I grew up in the Catholic faith, so I was raised to kneel during prayer. When our own kids were small (really young), however, I would hold them in my lap and rock as we prayed together. As they grew, I’d sit on their beds with them for bedtime prayers. Now, even as teens and pre-teens, we all usually sit, wherever we are.

But now—from Day One—I found stuff happening that tempted me to throw in the towel. For one thing, the very first weekend of this challenge was a holiday weekend, and we “just happened” to have arranged to travel out of town, making it a bit difficult to arrange time alone in the morning. Beyond that, I had neglected to purchase a new journal yet, using this challenge as my “excuse” to do so.

But I was committed to do this prayer challenge thing as described, because, as I said, I’m already pretty good at consistency. What drew me in was the return to kneeling.

What I Discovered About the Posture of Prayer

So I persevered, though the first few days were rough, and some I missed totally. When I was finally able to get back into gear, God blew me away. No matter how many times He does this, I still remain in awe when He does it yet again.

The very first day on my knees, I found myself feeling a bit like Hannah (1 Sam. 1:3-16). In her desperation to bear a child, Scripture tells us she poured her heart out to God, weeping bitterly. While my despair was not of the same ilk, suffice it to say that as I knelt and began to pray, I was absolutely overwhelmed with the darkness of my soul, the selfishness and sin that was within me, the utter desperation I had for my Savior. While none of that was news to me, nor should it be news to any believer, what was new was the depth and intensity that I experienced. The way I identified to the robber crucified with Jesus, who claimed, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” (Luke 23:41).

Have you ever felt that way? That despite what you know to be true, it seems unreasonable …

• that God should love you as much as He does,
• that He could have a plan for you already formed from the beginning of time,
• that He would even want to use you in that plan or in His kingdom, and
• that He’d go to the lengths described in Scripture to call you to Himself.

In other words, feeling an utter lack of hope.

Now Scripture does talk a bit about our posture in prayer: raising holy hands, laying prostrate in adoration, kneeling at the cross, bowing before Him. And something deep inside happened to me during that time of prayer, strengthened, I believe, by the very posture of my prayer.

It was confirmed for me as I rose and checked the verse of the day that I receive on my phone from BibleGateway each morning. It was hard for me to believe, but the phrases in bold (below) specifically describe not only the feelings but the flow in which they occurred:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,  being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:18-21, emphasis added).

While I had knelt in anticipation of God doing great things, I soon became convicted of my sin and utter dependence on God, but I rose again, strengthened and praising Him that all things worked together for my good and His glory.

What does this have to do with you?

Well, dear friend, He is waiting ever so patiently for you too, and by approaching the throne in humility, and on your knees, He is sure to meet you in ways that speak directly to your heart and yet beyond your wildest dreams.

I encourage you to try it yourself this month! How have you found your experiences influenced by your prayer posture? {eoa}

Adapted from A Little R And R. Pat Fenner has been homeschooling her five children for 20 years, learning and changing her methods quite a bit during that time. Preparing for a soon-to-be empty nest, she shares what she’s learned and encourages others in the journey over at . Join them over a cup of coffee and sign up to get useful and creative parenting and homeschooling “members-only” helps.

Joel 2:23-25 declares, “And children of Zion, exult and rejoice in the Lord your God, because He has given to you the early rain for vindication. He showers down rains for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as before. Then the threshing floors will be filled with grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. And I will compensate you for the years the locusts have eaten— the larval locust, the hopper locust, and the fledging locust—My great army which I sent against you.“

We are in a season of supernatural restoration. God is going to restore every lost year of your life, every moment that was lost or robbed from you. It’s a season where God is revealing His extravagant goodness to His people.

When we experience loss, pain or suffering in our lives, sometimes it’s the result of other people’s actions and sometimes it’s the result of our own behavior and attitudes. In Joel, the children of Israel had turned away from God.

As a result of their poor choices and sin, they suffered a locust plague that destroyed everything in the land. The suffering Israel was going through was the result of their own sin. But this is how amazing God’s goodness is. Even though it was their own fault, God still promised to restore everything that was lost.

There was one main key to this restoration. Joel 2:13 “Rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents from punishing.”

When we turn our hearts to God, He releases His supernatural restoration in our lives. Even if we are suffering the consequences of our own bad choices, when our heart is submitted to God, He moves in and in His amazing love and goodness restores every lost moment. God is so big that even if He has to add extra years onto your life, He can do that. And the glory of your latter years will be greater than your former! Get ready to see restoration on every level.

Restoration of your heart, mind, soul, emotions, physical body, relationships, family, and years that may have been wasted is happening. God is restoring them back to you! It’s a season of supernatural restoration as you give every area of your life, past, present and future, to God. 

Prayer

“God, I turn my whole heart towards You. I submit every area of my life to you and repent of any sin or bad choices I have made. I give you my life and my heart completely. Create in me a clean and pure heart. I pray that you would restore every lost year and lost moment in my life. May your extravagant goodness be revealed in and through me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.” {eoa}

Matt Sorger, author, prophetic messenger, revivalist, healing evangelist, teacher, television host and philanthropist has served in full-time ministry for over 23 years spanning over 200 nations of the Earth through travel and media ministry. He hosts a weekly teaching program titled Power for Life. Matt moves in a unique anointing that fills entire rooms with the tangible glory of God with many healed, set free and empowered. He teaches believers how to live a life saturated with the glory of God and brings a great balance between authentic, supernatural encounter and solid biblical truth. He reaches cities and regions by partnering with and impacting local churches to see a great breakthrough of the Holy Spirit.

Although Satan has never actually had any legitimate authority in the earth, that doesn’t mean that he has not found a deceptive way to function. 

You see, the deceiver has found a duplicitous method that actually enables him to function in places where he has no standing or right.  The apostle Paul warns us to be careful “lest Satan should take advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11).

Satan’s methodology is first evidenced in his dealings with Adam and Eve. From that time on, Satan has applied the same approach to the rest of humanity. He learned that if he can deceive people and persuade them to obey him, he gains a powerful foothold in their life.

Obedience to darkness opens up darkness in your life. What you allow to speak into your life has a terrible tendency of taking over. It is interesting to observe what the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome. “You are slaves of the one whom you obey” (Rom. 6:16). 

Any way you look at it, obedience empowers the one who is being obeyed. 

Sadly, the bulk of humanity has embraced the lies of Satan and positioned itself in a horrendous rebellion against the King of glory. Most aren’t fully cognizant of what they’ve done. They don’t understand that they have positioned themselves against the sovereign Lord.

They are not fully aware of who Jesus is and what He has done. 

This is a tragedy that simply must be confronted! We must find a way to bring freedom and life to those who have foolishly chosen the way of darkness.

We need to remember Satan has no legitimate authority in our lives. He really only possesses the strength we have given him. {eoa}

J.D. King, director of the World Revival Network and co-pastor at World Revival Church, is writing Regeneration: Healing in the History of Christianity. King is a sought-after speaker, writer and author.

For more than four decades, Christian International have been leaders pioneering the prophetic and apostolic. One key component in this movement is the “mantle to war.”

We are warriors for the Lord. I want to share with you six weapons in this war mantle:

1. The weapon of prayer – World War II General George Patton said, “Those who pray do more for this world than those who fight. If the world goes from bad to worse it is because there are more battles than there are prayers.” The most powerful thing a Christian can do is pray in tongues. Prayer gives the capacity to bring radical transformation into a territory and a community.

2. The weapon of praise – Isaiah 30:32, “And every blow of the rod of punishment which the Lord shall lay on him shall be with tambourines and harps; and in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.”

If you ever felt relief from depression, discouragement or even tiredness when you got in an atmosphere of praise and worship, that is the weapon of praise in action. It is more than and not just the psychological effect of the music. It is a spiritual effect.

3. The weapon of proclamations and decrees – I was at lunch with Freda Lindsay, co-founder of CFNI (Christ for the Nations Institute). She told me that in the 1950s healing revivals, they made declarations of dominion over the sick. Prayer for the sick is scriptural, but Jesus didn’t do it. He made declarations, like when He said, “Lazarus come forth.” I have watched God bring phenomenal healing by just making decrees to people.

4. The weapon of prophecy – The prophetic word is a force. It dispels darkness and breaks strongholds off of individual lives, circumstances and situations. When we use the weapon of prophecy, we are using our greatest authority of having Christ in us.

5. The weapon of peace – We can speak peace to the storm and see things calm down, just like Jesus did. Peace can stand against the plans of the enemy and stop his advances. Psalm 85:8 describes God speaking peace, or shalom. Shalom mean wholeness, prosperity, favor, friends with man and friends with God. It means nothing missing, nothing broken and nothing damaged. Decree peace: wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken, nothing damaged. We can use the Word of God to declare the peace of God.

6. The weapon of prosperity – The enemy loves to lock up wealth. Ecclesiastes 9:16 says, “Yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised” even though it resulted in the breakthrough for an entire community. God wants you to use wealth as an influencer to help shift culture into righteousness.

It’s time to get out of survival mode and start advancing the kingdom of God. First John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” If destroying the work of the enemy was Jesus’ main purpose, shouldn’t that also be the aim of the church?

Dare to be a warrior! {eoa}

Tom and Jane Hamon are the senior pastors of Vision Church @ Christian International in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Their ministry together is an example to the body of Christ of a husband and wife team working in tandem and unity to accomplish God’s purposes. Their ministry is characterized by a rich deposit of God’s wisdom to provide apostolic covering for the church, prophetic teaching and ministry, and demonstration of kingdom anointing and power. They travel as an apostolic/prophetic team to the nations, imparting both the spirit of wisdom and revelation to establish the church and break open territories through spiritual warfare for the kingdom of God to be experienced in a powerful and practical way. Jane has also written several books, including her very practical work on Dreams and Visions, her call to marketplace ministers called The Cyrus Decree, and her proclamation over women in the church to arise and be The Deborah Company.

The word of the Lord came to me saying that the body of Christ is coming into their divine season of prophetic fulfillment. The Lord likened this next season as a time of an open door, open window, gate and open portal where prophetic prayers and intercession has ascended to Him. God has heard your petition!

The Lord showed me that there was war going on in the heavenlies. Your breakthrough of miracles, blessings, favor, answered prayers, restoration, healing and salvation for loved ones is breaking through suddenly.

Many of you have been pressing in, soaking in His presence and petitioning the King and Judge to release a favorable outcome and judgment. The Lord says that your personal prophecies and prayers has met much resistance, but He has sent His word through angelic reinforcement to confirm your release.

He has sent His warring angels to help bring your prophecy and prayer requests to pass. The Lord reminded me of Daniel—when he prayed, the Lord answered Him. God spoke to me that your answers are coming like express, certified, hand-delivered mail.

“Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand this and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia“ (Dan. 10:12-13).

God wants me to encourage you that your breakthrough is imminent. The warfare was not in vain! God has dispatched His angels to carry out His prophetic promises in your life. The Lord said that your prayers seem to hit a brass heaven, but He is opening the heavens on your behalf while sending the host of heaven to cause you to walk in your prophetic destiny. Angels are summoned by the voice of the prophetic decrees and words over your life. God has employed your angels the first day you prayed!

“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, who are mighty, and do His commands, and obey the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts; you servants who do His pleasure” (Ps. 103:19-21).

We must understand one of the assignments of angels is that they carry out God’s Word. Their primary role is to respond to the voice of the Lord. True prophetic words that are released from the mouth of God and His prophets will summons angelic assistance to bring God’s promises, will and directives to pass. Angels serve the eternal purposes of God. They bring in provision for the vision of God in your life that is to align to His will and word over you.

God is dispatching His angels to deliver you from the grip of the enemy that is keeping you from walking in your destiny!

“ The very night when Herod would have brought him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. And the guards before the door were securing the prison. And suddenly an angel of the Lord approached him, and a light shone in the prison. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, ‘Rise up, quickly.’ And the chains fell off his hands” (Acts 12:5-7).

Angels will be used of God strategically in this hour like never before to bring divine breakthroughs in the life of the believer. As the prophets prophesy the word of God, we will see prophetic breakthroughs. As we war over our personal prophecies, we will see angels coming to the rescue to deliver and fight for you to receive the promises of the Father.

“This command I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies that were previously given to you, that by them you might fight a good fight“ (1 Tim. 1:18). {eoa}

Dr. Hakeem Collins is a new prophetic and governmental minister with a unique anointing in the prophetic, healings and the supernatural. He is a sought-after conference speaker, produces a weekly radio program called “The VOICE,” and author of Heaven Declares. He is CEO of Champions International based in Wilmington, Delaware, where he resides. Visit: .

Update at 8:28 a.m.: CNN, the Associated Press and Fox News are all reporting that the death toll in this shooting is five. Reuters had earlier reported that it was four, with one critically wounded.

Police in northwest Washington state on Saturday conducted a manhunt for a gunman who opened fire in a mall, killing four women and one man, media said.

A man walked into the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, about 65 miles (105 km) north of Seattle and began shooting at about 7 p.m. local time on Friday, Washington State Patrol spokesman Mark Francis said on Twitter.

Four women were killed in the attack in the mall’s Macy’s store cosmetics department, Francis told the New York Times.

Authorities initially said on social media four people were killed in the shooting. As authorities cleared the mall and assessed the situation, the number of dead was revised to three, according to several local and national media outlets.

Early on Saturday, the Times along with several other media outlets reported that the authorities had increased the number of dead again to four.

Local and state police officials were not immediately available for comment.

Harborview Medical Center in Seattle said in a statement that it was treating a man who was in critical condition from the shooting.

Francis said on Twitter that police and rescue workers carefully worked their way through the 434,000-square-foot (135,000 m) mall, clearing stores and evacuating shoppers some of whom, according to local media, locked themselves in dressing rooms.

He also said police were searching the area for the shooter, who was described as a “Hispanic male wearing gray” and last seen walking toward a nearby highway away from the mall.

Local authorities searched throughout the night for the gunman, believed to be armed with a rifle and warned residents to remain inside.

“Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight. Our hearts are in Burlington,” Governor Jay Inslee said on Twitter.

The shooting comes less than a week after a man stabbed nine people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead. The FBI is investigating that attack as a potential act of terrorism.

NBC News reported that Washington State Patrol had said that there was no indication of terrorism in the shooting in Burlington.

“At this time, the FBI has no information to suggest additional attacks planned in WA state,” the agency said on Twitter. {eoa}

© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.