The armed bystander credited with stopping the shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana on Wednesday was carrying a pistol under the state’s constitutional carry law.
Elisjsha Dicken, 22, the “good Samaritan” who shot and killed 20-year-old Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, the suspected gunman who killed three people and injured two others, was shopping with his girlfriend when Sapirman opened fire in the mall.
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“I just know that I’m so proud of him for what he’s done. He saved my granddaughter. I know he did,” the grandmother of Dicken’s girlfriend, Shay Goldman, told 13News.
Her grandmother said the two were in the food court when the shooting began. Seconds later, Dicken took out the gunman, steadying himself against a pole and firing 10 rounds at him from about 40 yards away, police said. Sapirman died from his injuries.
“She said she had that sick feeling like look behind her or beside her and he (the gunman) was walking out behind her and she said, ‘Grandma I seen a long gun’ and then all of a sudden Eli told her get down and pushed her and she said it went from there,” the grandmother added.
Police hailed Dicken’s actions as “heroic” for engaging with the gunman quickly while motioning for others to exit behind him.
“Many people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of this shooting,” said Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison on Monday.
Dicken had no police training or military background, though he learned to shoot from his grandfather. Under the constitutional carry law, citizens can carry guns without an additional permit.
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An attorney for Dicken said he would not be making any public comment out of respect for the three victims until authorities wrapped up their investigation.
The victims of the shooting were identified by police as: Victor Gomez, 30, Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37.
