James Arthur and his family, including daughter, Madison Willoughby react after leaving a shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, U.S. July 17, 2022. (Kelly Wilkinson/USA Today Network via Reuters)
GREENWOOD, Indiana--The gunman who killed three people in a shopping mall near Indianapolis would likely have taken many more lives if not for the "heroic" actions of an armed bystander who shot the suspect dead and stopped the attack, police said on Monday.
Elisjsha Dicken, 22, who was lawfully carrying a concealed pistol at the time, "engaged" the suspect on Sunday almost as soon he opened fire with a rifle in a food court at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, authorities said. Police said they did not know the motive behind the rampage.
Dicken immediately became a cause celebre for gun rights advocates, who argue -- despite government statistics to the contrary -- that armed civilians are the best defense against the kinds of random mass shootings that killed more than 100 people in the United States last year.
Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison credited Dicken, who was at the shopping mall with his girlfriend on Sunday night, as a hero whose bravery and competence prevented further bloodshed. Dicken now needed "space and time to process what he's gone through," the chief said in an appeal for restraint by the media.
Although he lacked any law enforcement or military training, Dicken exhibited "proficient" and "tactically sound" moves in firing at "the gunman with a handgun from quite a distance," Ison told reporters. "As he engaged and closed in on the suspect," Dicken motioned for others in the vicinity to exit behind him, the chief said, adding that Dicken afterward turned himself over to mall security personnel and cooperated with police.
The shooting lasted just two minutes from the time the suspect opened fire until he was killed. Beforehand, the gunman had spent more than an hour in a mall restroom, apparently preparing for the attack and putting together the murder weapon he carried disassembled in a bag, the chief said.
Dicken was initially handcuffed and his gun was confiscated before he was taken for questioning to the police department, where his account was verified by video footage, according to Ison. "Many more people would've died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of the shooting," Ison said.
The gunman was identified as Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, a local resident who had lived alone, quit his warehouse job in May and had recently been evicted, the chief said. Ison said Sapirman lacked any previous criminal history, except for a juvenile record including a fight at school and a runaway incident. He did not drive and was believed to have walked to the mall on Sunday, the chief said.
