Elisjsha Dicken, 22, was out shopping with his girlfriend, and a 20-year-old gunman started shooting up the Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana.
The attacker, identified as Jonathan Sapirman, 20, quickly targeted three people, Pedro Pineda, 56, Rosa Miran Rivera de Pineda 37, and Victor Gomez, 30, killing them.
So Dicken took out the weapon he was carrying – legally – and he killed Sapirman.
“His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun and was very proficient,” Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison told reporters after the mall shooting situation was defused.
The Daily Mail said Dick had no police or military training, and he’s now being called a Good Samaritan.
The biblical account of that original was that a man from Samaria, a region hated by the established religious structure at the time. He offered aid and assistance to a man injured and left by the wayside, after several prominent leaders in the community had passed by the victim.
The report explained Sapirman recently had been evicted but had no adult criminal record.
And Dicken, was seen “calmly gesturing for crowds to evacuate” while taking aim, successfully, at Sapirman.
“He is a true American hero who saved countless lives during a horrific event that could have been so much worse if not for Eli’s courage, preparedness and willingness to protect others,” explained his lawyer, Guy Relford.
James Arthur, who was in the mall at the time with his family, told the Indianapolis Star he heard at least 20 rounds. Sapirman died of his injuries.
Chris Roy, an assistant manager at a mall store, explained he saw people running, so he jumped over the counter, locked the door from the store into the mall, and gathered employees in back.
Police reported Sapirman had purchased a rifle some months ago, and brought it and several magazines of ammunition to the mall food court.
Assistant police chief Chris Bailey said, “We are sickened by yet another type of incident like this in our country, in our city.”
Mark Myers, Greenwood mayor, expressed gratitude to Dicken for his response.
“The mayor said that while the shooter’s motive remains a mystery ‘we do know that someone we are calling the ‘Good Samaritan’ was able to shoot the assailant and stop further bloodshed. This person saved lives tonight. On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation.,'” Myers said, according to the report.
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