An active shooter carrying a long gun shot and killed three people before a lawfully armed bystander fatally shot him in the food court of the Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana Sunday evening.
Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison told the Indianapolis Star that two other people were also injured in the incident.
‘It appears that he had a rifle with several magazines of ammunition, entered the food court and began shooting,’ Ison said.
The “good Samaritan” who shot the man with the rifle was a 22-year-old man from Bartholomew County, Indiana, Ison added.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began,” Ison said.
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Ison was immediately criticized on social media for calling the man who stopped the mass shooter a “good Samaritan” even though he saved countless lives.
The term, “Good Samaritan” came from a Bible passage of a man from Samaria who stopped on the side of the road to help a man who was injured and ignored.
— Justin Kollar (@kollarjustin) July 18, 2022
I cannot believe we live in a world where the term can equally apply to someone *killing* someone… my God. https://t.co/0a3sgzejzD
Same thing. A killing is a killing. We just like our silly little justifications so we can sleep at night.
— Aenias (@Aenias_) July 18, 2022
13WTHR reported that in all, four people were killed, including the shooter.
The three victims who died were identified as Pedro Pineda,56, his wife, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, and Victor Gomez,30.
The shooter was identified as Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood.
13WTHR summarized the events as follows:
- Sapirman had two rifles and a handgun. He was also carrying several magazines of ammunition. He only used one rifle during the shooting.
- Sapirman reportedly entered the mall at 4:54pm on July 17. He went into the bathroom where he remained for two hours and two minutes. Police reported finding Sapirman’s cell phone in the toilet in the bathroom.
- Sapirman left the bathroom and shot and killed Gomez. He then started firing into the food court, striking and killing the Pinedas. Two other people were injured during the shooting including a 12-year-old girl who was struck by a bullet fragment.
- Sapirman fired 24 rounds during the course of the shooting.
- at 5:57pm, Elisjsha Dicken, an armed civilian bystander with no police training or military background, fired on Sapirman. Dicken fired 10 rounds hitting Sapirman and killing him.
Dicken was carrying without a permit under the new Constitutional Carry law.
POLICE CHIEF ON GREENWOOD PARK MALL ARMED CITIZEN
— NRA (@NRA) July 18, 2022
"He was carrying legally under Constitutional Carry law. His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance. Was very proficient in that… He has no police training and no military background." pic.twitter.com/RsJ0VLYieR
At this time, there is no information regarding a potential motive for the shooting.