INDIANAPOLIS — A man armed with a long rifle opened fire in the food court at Greenwood Park Mall Sunday night, killing three and wounding two others before the shooter was shot to death by an armed citizen.
Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said the first calls for help came in about 6:05 p.m. Witness told WRTV dozens of shots rang out as panicked mall goers ran for cover. Many sought shelter alongside employees in various stores and shops walled off from the main mall by rolling metal gates.
Here's everything we know about the mass shooting.
What happened
A man entered the Greenwood Park Mall and started shooting shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday.
"It appears that he had a long rifle with several magazines of ammunition, entered the food court and began shooting," Chief Ison said.
Four people died, including the shooter. Police said the toll could have been higher if not for the actions of an armed citizen inside the mall.
"It appears that a Good Samaritan that was armed observed the shooting in progress and shot the shooter," Ison said.
The "Good Samaritan"
Police said the shooter was killed by Elisjsah Dicken, 22, of Seymour in Bartholomew County.
Dicken authorized police to release his name but asked for privacy as he still processes what happened.
"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 it began," Ison said.
Dicken fired the first shot from a distance of about 40 to 50 yards, Ison said.
"With a handgun to be that accurate, he was an excellent shot," Ison said. "He (Dicken) then advanced towards the suspect to make sure that he was no longer a threat. As he was moving towards the suspect very tactically, he was motioning for people to exit behind him."
Dicken, 22, has no military or law enforcement training, Ison said. Dicken told investigators that his grandfather taught him how to shoot.
"So this young man has his wits about him. He acted very calmly," Ison said. "Matter of fact, when I first saw it my first question was 'is that a police officer?'”
Greenwood Mayor Mark W. Myers thanked the "Good Samaritan" for "stopping further bloodshed."
"This person saved lives tonight," Myers said in a statement posted on Facebook. "On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation.”
Two men and one woman were killed, according to the Johnson County coroner. One man died at the scene and the other man and woman died at Franciscan Health Indianapolis and Eskenazi Hospital.
Ison said a 12-year-old girl injured in the attack suffered only minor injuries and was transported to the hospital separately. A second person was taken to the hospital from the scene. Their condition wasn't immediately known.
During a press conference on Monday, Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt identified the three people killed as Pedro Pineda, 56, of Indianapolis; Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, of Indianapolis, and Victor Gomez, 30, of Indianapolis. Pedro Pineda and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda were husband and wife.
Gomez, the first person shot by the suspect, was carrying a handgun that he never had a chance to pull, Ison told WRTV.
A spokeswoman representing Simon Property Group, the Greenwood Park Mall's parent company, confirmed the mall will be closed Monday. The mall reopened Tuesday.
"We grieve for the victims of yesterday’s horrific tragedy in Greenwood," mall officials said in a statement.
"Violence has no place in this or any other community. We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect."
The shooter
Investigators said the shooter was an adult man and identified him as 20-year-old Jonathan Douglas Sapirman of Greenwood.
As a juvenile, he had some previous incidents with the Greenwood Police Department.
Sapirman spent an hour in a bathroom before stepping out and shooting into the mall food court. He fired 24 rounds in 15 seconds before he was shot to death by Dicken, the armed civilian.
Ison said detectives found three firearms with the suspect: two AR-15-style rifles and a handgun. All were purchased legally by him and from at least one gun store in Greenwood.
Detectives, including agents from the FBI, are still working to determine a motive in the case. The suspect had no known mental health problems, Ison said.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that agents assisted other officers who served a search warrant at Polo Run Apartments, which is located near the mall across U.S. 31.
The FBI is working to see if they can recover data from the suspect's cell phone thrown in a toilet in the mall and his laptop found in an oven at his residence, which was on and had butane in it, Ison said.
The shooter's guns
Sapirman carried a backpack with two disassembled AR-15-style rifleswhen he entered the mall through the entrance near the food court at 4:54 p.m., police said.
He went straight into a bathroom and stayed there for an hour before he stepped out and began shooting, Chief Ison said.
From 5:56:48 to 5:57:03 p.m. Sunday, Sapirman sprayed two dozen 5.56-caliber rounds into the food court using a Sig Sauer M400, an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, Ison said. Ison initially said that the shooter fired the rifle for two minutes.
"He had multiple magazines and over 100 rounds of ammunition on his person and in his possession," Ison said.
Police found the backpack in a bathroom along with a Smith and Wesson M&P 15, Ison said.
Sapirman purchased the Sig Sauer legally at a Greenwood store on March 8; and the M&P 15 at a Greenwood store on March 9, 2021, Ison said.
Sapirman also carried a .357-caliber Glock 33 handgun, police said.
Active shooter training
According to a spokesperson for the mall, tenants at the mall have been doing active shooter training for a "long time" and recently completed the training in June.
WRTV is working to confirm more details about the training.
More: Mass shooting at Greenwood Park Mall leaves multiple dead, injured | Local lawmakers, leaders react to Greenwood Park Mall shooting | Greenwood mall mass shooting suspect fired 24 rounds in 2 minutes; motive unclear | What we know about the armed civilian who killed Greenwood gunman | Greenwood Park Mall mass shooting: First victim had a gun, no time to use it
When will the Greenwood Park Mall reopen?
A spokesperson for the mall told WRTV the mall will reopen at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Contact WRTV Reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
Contact WRTV Real-Time Editor Jazlyn Gomez at jazlyn.gomez@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @jazlynmgomez
WRTV Reporter Kelsey Anderson and Senior Digital Content Producer Andrew Smith contributed to this report.
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