Armed civilian neutralized Indiana mall shooter in just 15 seconds, authorities say
It took just 15 seconds for an armed civilian to neutralize a man who opened fire in a mall food court in Indiana on Sunday, authorities said. Three victims were killed and two more were wounded in the attack.
The Tuesday statement was issued to correct a timeline of the shooting that authorities provided on Monday. Previously, police said two minutes had passed before 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken stopped the shooter, who police identified as 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman.
"The time lapse between the moment that Jonathan Sapirman exited the restroom and began shooting, and when he was shot by the civilian (Elisjsha Dicken) was only fifteen seconds, not two minutes," Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said in a statement. "The surveillance video shows Sapirman exit the restroom at 5:56:48pm. He was neutralized by Dicken at 5:57:03 pm."
A preliminary autopsy report released Tuesday said Sapirman was shot eight times and died from his wounds.
Police previously said the incident began at approximately 4:54 p.m. local time, when the shooter entered the mall and went to a food court bathroom. He was in there just over an hour. He left the bathroom at 5:56 p.m., and began shooting immediately, killing three people and wounding two before he was shot by Dicken. The victims were identified Tuesday as Pedro Pineda, 56; Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37; and Victor Gomez, 30.
Two rifles, a Glock pistol, multiple magazines and at least 100 rounds of ammo were recovered after the shooting, Ison said.
"Many more people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen who took action within the first two minutes of this shooting," Ison said, calling his actions "nothing short of heroic." Dicken had been visiting the mall with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting, according to Ison.
Though he said he does not believe Dicken has any military or law enforcement background, Ison said he engaged the gunman from "quite a distance" and that his actions were "very tactically sound."
Dicken's attorney said Monday that he was "proud" to serve his client, calling him "a true American hero who saved countless lives." The attorney said Dicken would not make in-depth comments about the case until the investigation concluded.
An armed civilian stopping a gunman is very uncommon, according to data from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center cited by The Associated Press. From 2000 to 2021, less than 3% of instances where someone attacked multiple people ended with a civilian firing at them, the AP said. Much more common were police shooting the perpetrator, police or bystanders subduing them in another manner, or the attacker leaving the scene.
Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive for the shooting. Ison said Monday that the alleged shooter is believed to have dropped his cell phone in the mall bathroom toilet before opening fire, and that authorities found a laptop in an oven when they searched his residence.
Zoe Christen Jones contributed reporting.
