Authorities have identified the three victims killed in an Indiana mall shooting on Sunday, their troubled killer and the hero who shot him — and likely saved countless others from being shot.
An Indianapolis husband and wife identified as Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, as well as Victor Gomez, 30, were fatally wounded when Jonathan Sapirman opened fire on shoppers at Greenwood Park Mall shortly before 6 p.m., police and the local coroner said Monday.
Sapirman, 20, was also killed when he was shot by a legally armed man who was at the mall at the time shopping with his girlfriend, Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said at a news conference.
That shopper, Elisha Dicken, 22, of Seymour, shot and killed Sapirman with a handgun two minutes after the shooting began.
He was praised for his heroic efforts at the media briefing.
“We are very grateful for a young 22-year-old man who stopped this violent act,” said Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers. “This young man, Greenwood’s Good Samaritan, acted in seconds, stopping the shooter and saving countless lives.”
If not for Elisjsha Dicken’s quick actions in removing the shooter, “A lot more people would have died,” said Greenwood Police Chief James Ison. Good Sam Facebook
Sapirman, who quit his warehouse job and was facing eviction, entered the mall shortly before 5 p.m. and went straight to a bathroom near the food court, where he spent more than an hour preparing for the shooting, Ison said.
An hour and two minutes later, he came out of the bathroom and immediately began firing a shotgun at people in the diner, hitting Gomez first, then Pinedas.
The gunman also shot a 22-year-old woman in the leg. She is recovering at an area hospital.
A 12-year-old girl also received medical treatment after being struck in the back by a bullet fragment that ricocheted off a wall at the mall, Ison said.
Two minutes after Sapirman opened fire, Dicken confronted him and fired 10 rounds at him from a distance. Sapirman tried to retreat to the bathroom to hide, but was mortally wounded and fell to the floor.
The motive for the shooting at the mall on Sunday is still unknown to law enforcement authorities.AP
Police said Dicken, who legally carried the firearm, had no military background or police training but demonstrated smart and brave instincts.
“His actions were nothing short of heroic,” Ison said. “He engaged the shooter from quite a distance with a gun, he was very skilled at it, very tactically sound and as he moved in to approach the suspect, he also motioned for people to get behind him.”
Sapirman, who has no criminal record other than minor run-ins with minors, fired 24 rounds from an AR-15 rifle in the two minutes before he was taken out.
“A lot more people would have died last night if it wasn’t for a responsible armed citizen who took action very quickly,” Ison said.
Police found a second rifle, a handgun, multiple magazines and more than 100 rounds of ammunition that were on the shooter and hidden in a bathroom at the mall. The police also found Sapirman’s cell phone, which he had thrown into a toilet in a bathroom cubicle.
Investigators later took the shooter’s laptop from his apartment, which was in an oven on high, along with a can of butane.
The FBI is trying to recover data from the two devices that were damaged by Sapirman’s actions.
Ison said there is no known motive at this stage of the investigation.
Sapirman’s relatives told police he showed no indication of being violent or unstable.
The 20-year-old legally purchased the rifle he used in the March shooting and frequented a nearby shooting range, the family said.
The attack was the latest in a series of deadly mass shootings that have affected the United States and claimed the lives of many Americans.
Mass shooters have attacked schools, churches, grocery stores, a Fourth of July parade, and now a shopping mall in recent months — making almost no place safe for people just going about their daily lives.
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