Jonathan Sapirman of Greenwood was apparently facing eviction before he opened fire at the Greenwood Park Mall shortly before closing time Sunday night, city police Chief James Eason said at a news conference. Sapirman continued shooting people until he was shot and killed by 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, of Seymour, a town about 72 kilometers south of Greenwood, who was shopping with his girlfriend, Ison said, calling Dicken’s quick action “nothing less from heroic. .” “Many more people would have died last night if it weren’t for a responsible armed citizen,” the chief said, noting that authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the attack. Story continues below ad
Read more: 4 dead, 2 injured after shooting at Indiana mall
The Johnson County and Marion County medical examiner’s offices identified the slain victims as a married couple from Indianapolis — Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37 — and Victor Gomez, 30, also of Indianapolis. A woman and a 12-year-old girl who were hit by shrapnel were injured in the attack, police said. Although authorities said Dicken was legally armed, the mall prohibits people from bringing guns onto its property. The mall issued a statement Monday saying it mourned the victims and praised Dicken’s “heroic actions.” It did not mention its gun-free policy, and its operator, Simon Property Group, did not respond to a request for comment. 1:3252 school buses travel to Ted Cruz’s home, carrying items for school shooting victims 52 school buses travel to Ted Cruz’s home, carrying items for school shooting victims As of July 1, Indiana law allows anyone 18 or older to carry a gun in public, except those prohibited for reasons such as a felony conviction, facing a restraining order, or having a dangerous mental illness as determined by a court. The Republican-dominated Indiana Legislature retained provisions of the law that allow private property owners to ban firearms. Story continues below ad Sunday’s attack was the latest in a series of mass shootings at U.S. schools, churches, grocery stores and a July 4 parade near Chicago that have all become killing sprees in recent months, though the country’s shocking murder rate can often be seen more purely in individual murders that rarely make big headlines. Trending Stories
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Authorities said Sunday that four of the victims were women and one was a man, but corrected that Monday to two men and three women. 0:58 Father of teen killed in Parkland shooting interrupts Biden during speech on gun law Father of teen killed in Parkland shooting interrupts Biden during speech on gun law – July 11, 2022 Ison said Sapirman entered the mall and went into a bathroom, where he spent about an hour before coming out and opening fire. He said investigators believe Sapirman spent that time preparing and possibly reassembling a disassembled rifle he had brought in his backpack. He ended up firing 24 bullets in two minutes. Ison said Sapirman used an AR-15-style rifle during the shooting and that investigators found another in the bathroom. They also found a handgun on Sapirman, who was wearing a waist holster and had several magazines containing more than 100 rounds. Story continues below ad While police do not know a motive for the attack, Sapirman’s relatives told investigators that he recently received notice that he was being evicted from his apartment, though Eason said authorities are still trying to confirm that. Relatives also said Sapirman quit a warehouse job in May, he said. “Right now we have no motivation. His family members we spoke to were just as surprised as everyone else. They said there was no indication that he was violent or unstable,” Ison said. The chief said Dicken fired 10 rounds from his gun and that as he fired, Sapirman “tried to retreat back into the restroom and failed and fell to the ground after being shot.” “He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a pistol and he was very good at it, very tactically. And as he moved to approach the suspect, he also motioned for people to get behind him,” Ison said of Dicken. Sapirman had a juvenile record, including a fight at school and an incident where he ran away from home, but he had no criminal record as an adult, the chief said. He said relatives told investigators that Sapirman practiced shooting at a gun range and that records obtained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that he had been frequenting the area and buying ammunition there for the past two years. Story continues below ad Ison said officers recovered a cell phone from a toilet in the mall’s bathroom that they believe was placed there by Sapirman. In Sapirman’s apartment, they found a laptop computer and a can of butane inside the furnace, which was on and set to high, the chief said without elaborating. The cell phone and laptop, destroyed by the oven’s heat, will be analyzed by the FBI and that “we’re very curious to analyze those,” he said. Mark Myers, mayor of Greenwood, a city of about 60,000 just south of Indianapolis, said the grieving community is shocked to be at the scene of a mass shooting. “I don’t want to be among the mayors who have to share these statements. But unfortunately, I am,” he said. “I am saddened by these senseless killings and pained by the scars left behind on the victims and our community.” © 2022 The Canadian Press
