Indiana mall shooter brought multiple weapons, ‘good Samaritan’ who shot him credited with saving countless lives
By Antonio Planas, Dennis Romero and Melina Chalkia
The suspected gunman in the Indiana mall mass shooting carried two rifles, a pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammo, authorities said Monday, and the “good Samaritan” who fatally shot him is credited with saving “countless lives.”
Three people were killed at the Greenwood Park Mall outside of Indianapolis on Sunday. Two others were injured and the gunman is also dead.
The suspected shooter was identified by officials as Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood. Sapirman entered the Greenwood Park Mall and went into a restroom near the food court about 4:54 p.m. on Sunday, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said Monday.
Sapirman stayed in the bathroom for 62 minutes, then exited and began firing into the mall's food court with a 6 Saur rifle, killing three people.
The victim's were identified as husband and wife Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, both of Indianapolis; and Victor Gomez, 30, of Indianapolis.
Elisjsha Dicken, 22, of Seymour, Indiana, was at the mall shopping with his girlfriend, saw the shooter, and within minutes of Sapirman first opening fire, returned fire with a handgun and killed Sapirman, Ison said.
"His actions were nothing short of heroic," Ison said. "He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, was very proficient in that, very tactically sound. And as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him."
Altogether, investigators recovered 24 rifle rounds fired by Sapirman and 10 rounds shot by Dicken, Ison said.
In addition to those killed, a 22-year-old woman sustained a "leg wound" and is recovering, Ison said, and a 12-year-old girl sustained a minor injury when a bullet ricocheted and hit her.
Greenwood Mayor Mark W. Myers said Monday, "I grieve for these senseless killings. And I ache for the scars that are left behind on the victims and on our community."
Myers on Monday also praised Dicken, saying, "This young man, Greenwood's good Samaritan, acted within seconds, stopping the shooter and saving countless lives."
Ty Straub, 35, of Indianapolis, was at the mall Sunday, about 300 feet away from the food court, when he started to hear screaming and saw a stampede of people running over each other.
“I saw people pushing past each other and running as fast as they could. So as soon as I saw that, I didn’t waste any time. I took off running,” he told NBC News.