This young man is a hero.
New details emerged after Sunday’s mass shooting at a mall in Greenwood, Indiana, suggesting that an armed 22-year-old man likely saved multiple lives after returning fire at a gunman who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, according to reports.
Elisjsha Dicken engaged the shooter with a Glock handgun from 40 yards away within the Greenwood Park Mall food court, according to Greenwood Police Chief James Ison.
Police say that Elisjsha Dicken fired at the Greenwood gunman from 40-50 yards away with his 9mm handgun, and hit him with the first shot.
Extremely impressive. This man is a hero. pic.twitter.com/NQgeYEQZHk
— Addison Smith (@AddisonSmithOAN) July 19, 2022
The food court shooter, 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman, was found dead outside of the restroom in which he had prepared for the shooting.
Dicken took down the shooter in less than 15 seconds. Sapirman was hit by eight bullets, according to the Indianapolis Star.
“His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, was very proficient in that, very tactically sound,” said Ison during a Monday news conference, according to Newsweek.
“As he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him. He has, to our knowledge, he has no police training and no military background.”
Law enforcement clarified the timeline of events Tuesday after initially stating that Dicken had neutralized the shooter two minutes after he opened fire.
#BreakingNews Greenwood police revise timeline–now say Armed Citizen Eli Dicken neutralized mall shooter in a mere 15 seconds–not 2 minutes as previously stated.#GreenwoodParkMall @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/4sV7VA1drp
— annemariewthr (@AnneMarieWTHR) July 19, 2022
Hitting a man-sized, moving target from 40 yards isn’t an easy shot.
Especially in a context in which missed shots can quickly cost you your own life and the lives of innocents around you.
Dicken had come to the mall from his hometown of Seymour — about 50 miles from Greenwood — to shop with his girlfriend, according to news reports. He was carrying his weapon under Indiana’s permitless carry law, which was only signed into effect weeks ago, according to Indianapolis WRTV.
After confirming the shooter was no longer a threat, WRTV reported, Dicken approached mall security and cooperated with officers.
Ison told news media that Dicken was initially handcuffed and questioned by officers, but released upon verification of his actions via surveillance video.
“Dicken gave permission for authorities to release his name, age and hometown, but has declined to speak publicly about the shooting as he continued to process what occurred,” WRTV reported.
Is this young man a hero?
The sequence of events strongly suggests the Greenwood Park Mall shooting could’ve been far worse if citizens had not been allowed to carry guns without a state permit.
Tragically, the mall shooting wasn’t without innocent casualties. Three victims were killed in the attack, in addition to the perpetrator.
Speaking of Dicken at Monday’s news conference, Ison said he was “100 percent certain that many more people would have died last night if it wasn’t for his heroism.”
