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Authorities applaud armed citizen who killed 20-year-old Indiana mall shooter

By Teddy Grant, ABC News Jul 18, 2022 | 2:46 PM


Jon Cherry/Getty Images

(GREENWOOD, Ind.) — Police identified and applauded the 22-year-old who shot and killed a gunman who opened fire on a Greenwood, Indiana, shopping mall.

The gunman, who killed three people before being killed, was identified Monday as 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman.

Elisjsha Dicken shot and killed Sapirman two minutes after the rampage started, Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said at Monday’s news conference.

“Our city, our community and our state is grateful for his heroism in this situation,” Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said. “He’s a young man processing a lot. I ask that you give him space and time to be able to process what he’s gone through last night.”

The Johnson County coroner also identified the three people who were killed in the shooting: 30-year-old Victor Gomez and married couple Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Rivera de Pineda, 37.

“I am 100% certain many, many more people would’ve died last night if it was not for his heroism,” Ison told ABC News. “The young man had his wits about him, acted very quickly.”

The suspect had over 100 rounds of ammunition on him, but fired just 24 bullets before being shot by Dicken, police said.

The suspect brought three guns with him to the mall, but only used a Sig Sauer M400 rifle, which he purchased legally in March. Sapirman allegedly left behind another semi-automatic rifle in the mall bathroom, where he was seen on surveillance footage for an hour before the shooting. He purchased that weapon legally in March 2021. A pistol was also found on his body, police said.

Gomez was shot outside the restroom, while the Pinedas were shot while eating dinner in the food court, according to police.

In addition to those who were killed, a 22-year-old woman was shot in the leg and a 12-year-old girl suffered a minor wound after a bullet fragment ricocheted off the wall and hit her in the back.

ABC News’ Alex Perez and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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