INDIANAPOLIS – The victims of a mass shooting were identified Monday, a day after a gunman opened fire inside an Indiana shopping mall before being fatally shot by an armed bystander.
The shooter, identified as Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood, Indiana, killed three people and injured two in the food court at the Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday before closing time, police said.
He was killed by Elisjsha Dicken, 22, of Seymour, Indiana, a mall patron who was legally carrying a gun, according to authorities.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began,” Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said.
Authorities received the first emergency calls at 6:05 p.m. from the mall in Greenwood, a city with a population of 60,000 14 miles south of Indianapolis.
Here’s what we know about the Greenwood Park Mall shooting:
Who were the Greenwood Park Mall shooting victims?
There were five victims, including the three people killed by the gunman and two who were injured, Ison said.
Monday, the Johnson County Coroner’s Office released the names and ages of the Indianapolis residents who died:
- Pedro Pineda, 56.
- Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37.
- Victor Gomez, 30.
The Pinedas were married, according to authorities.
The youngest injured victim was a 12-year-old girl who suffered a minor wound.
Ison said she went home with her parents after the incident and told them about a “scratch” on her back. They called police, and the girl was taken to a hospital, but she’s expected to be “just fine,” he said.
A woman in her 20s was treated for a leg wound but was in stable condition.
What type of weapons were used by the Greenwood Park Mall shooter?
Police said Monday that the shooter, had three guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition when he entered the mall.
Just before 5 p.m., he entered the bathroom of the mall’s food court, where police said he remained for an hour. As the mall closed, he came out and shot Gomez, then shot the Pinedas as they ate dinner.
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The guns were purchased at a Greenwood store March 8 and 9, according to authorities. The 20-year-old used a Sig Sauer Model 400 rifle and brought two additional weapons in a backpack that remained in the food court. He fired 24 rounds.
The shooter had no adult criminal record but had a minor juvenile record, including a fight at school and running away. Police did not release a motive.
Police: Shooter tried to destroy evidence
Police said the shooter tried to destroy electronics in his apartment. FBI officials said after the shooting, they assisted Greenwood police in executing a search warrant at the suspect’s home. He lived at an apartment complex about a mile west of the mall.
Investigators searching the apartment found an oven set to a high temperature. Inside were a laptop and a can of butane.
Although damaged, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said the laptop will be sent for analysis to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. Investigators found a cellphone in the apartment’s toilet, officials said.
What did shooting witnesses see?
James Arthur said he was in the mall with his wife and four children when he heard what sounded like 20 rounds go off. He said the shots were fired rapidly, and it “sounded like a big gun.”
He said they thought it was a joke until people started running. The family was separated in the chaos as people fled, and Arthur said one of his children saw a body on the ground.
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Chris Roy, assistant manager of the mall’s Van’s shoe store, was working Sunday when he saw people running through the hallway, away from the food court just before closing.
“I jumped over the counter, locked the door, gathered my associates and other managers at the back door,” said Roy, 30.
They hadn’t heard gunshots, but Roy said they saw enough people running to not ask questions. Through the back door, they huddled in an interior hallway with 40 to 50 others, Roy said. After 10 to 15 minutes, police cleared them from the hallway and escorted them out of the mall, he said.
Contributing: Phyllis Cha and Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star
