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Three people were killed and two others, including a 12-year-old girl, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said. Sapirman’s motive is unknown, but officials say he planned the shooting.

“Many more people would’ve died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly, within the first two minutes of this shooting,” Ison said.

He identified the bystander as Elisjsha Dicken, 22, of Seymour, Ind., who Ison said was at the mall shopping with his girlfriend. He had said Sunday night that Dicken was “lawfully carrying” a handgun in the mall and was fully cooperating with the investigation.

FBI spokesperson Chris Bavender said before Monday’s news conference that the agency is assisting the Greenwood Police Department at the gunman’s residence less than a mile from the Greenwood Park Mall where the deadly shooting took place.

Advocates for expanding gun access frequently justify their positions by citing the situation of an armed civilian stopping a shooter, which in practice is a relatively rare occurrence, the New York Times reports. This month, Indiana lifted its permit requirement to carry a handgun in public over the objections of police officials, with the bill’s author arguing this year that the move allowed “Mr. and Mrs. Lawful Hoosier” to “defend themselves in public.”

The Sunday shooting was another example of a summer day at an cherished American institution, the suburban mall, shattered by gun violence. It follows recent mass shootings at a July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Ill., a doctor’s office in Tulsa, an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., and a grocery store in Buffalo.

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“This has shaken us to our core,” Ison said. “This isn’t something that we have seen here in Greenwood before.”

Sapirman and one other person died at the scene. Two victims died at Indianapolis hospitals Sunday night, the Johnson County Coroner’s Office said on Facebook. Two others were in stable condition, including a 12-year-old girl with “a very minor wound” who returned home before her parents called police, Ison said Sunday. A 22-year-old woman was hit in the leg.

Pedro Pineda, 56, and his wife, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, were killed, Ison said. Pedro Pineda’s son Maycol confirmed that the couple had died.

Ison said Victor Gomez, 30, was also killed.

Calls about a shooter in the food court came in at 6:05 p.m. local time, according to Ison. The gunman arrived with two rifles and multiple magazines in a bag, as well as a pistol. He spent more than an hour in a bathroom before exiting with a Sig Sauer 400M .556 rifle.

Dicken, the bystander, was armed with a 9mm pistol and fired 10 rounds at the gunman while motioning for people to escape behind him, Ison said.

After Dicken shot Sapirman, SWAT teams swept the mall and cleared a backpack that Ison initially described as “suspicious” in a restroom near the food court. They found a second rifle, an M&P 15 rifle, in the bag.

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The shooting took place weeks after the state dropped its requirement for a permit to purchase and carry a handgun in public, joining 24 other states that allow permitless carry, per PolitiFact. Indiana House Bill 1296, which went into effect July 1, allows anyone over 18 who is not a felon and does not meet one of the other disqualifying factors to openly carry or conceal a handgun without a permit. Anyone can also carry a rifle or shotgun without a permit.

Private businesses can still restrict the carrying of firearms in the state. Simon Property Group, which owns Greenwood Park and other malls around the world, stipulates in its code of conduct that “no weapons” are allowed at its properties, though it notes that “exceptions to this code of conduct will be determined by local center management.” When asked whether Greenwood Park Mall allows guns, the mall directed The Washington Post to its code of conduct.

Greenwood Park Mall said in an email Monday that it was “grateful for the strong response” from authorities, and it praised the bystander who stopped the gunman.

The permitless-carry bill sparked divisions even among Republicans in the GOP-held statehouse before Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed it into law in March. Police officials, including the state police chief and the Fraternal Order of Police, spoke out against the measure, saying the lack of a permit requirement would put officers at risk and undermine their ability to quickly determine whether someone was legally allowed to possess a gun, the Indianapolis Star reported.

The bill’s author, state Rep. Ben Smaltz (R), said at a hearing in January that the legislation would level the playing the field against criminals because law-abiding residents are the only ones who go through the process to obtain a permit, according to the Star.

“I am here with House Bill 1077 representing Mr. and Mrs. Lawful Hoosier,” Smaltz said. “That’s who I’m trying to help with 1077, to tell that person that they matter, that they don’t need to be delayed, that they’ve done nothing wrong their entire life. They are not a prohibited person, they should be able to defend themselves in public, at home, where they choose.”

Indiana is one of 19 states with a red-flag law in place, which allows a judge to take away a person’s gun if they are determined to be a threat to themselves or others.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), an advocate for tighter gun restrictions, called for more gun control on Twitter after Sunday’s shooting, writing that he has “lots of family” who shop at the Greenwood Park Mall.

“They are safe. But too many families tonight again lost a loved one because we are a country of unrestricted weaponry,” he wrote. “We are failing every person’s right to be free from gun violence.”

Pastor Ryan Bailey said the community is still in “shock” after the mall shooting. Bailey’s Resurrection Lutheran Church will hold a vigil for the victims Monday “to gather and to pray and to be with one another,” Bailey said.

He underscored the importance of unity in the aftermath of the shooting.

“A main challenge we face when trying to resolve or respond to this problem of gun violence is that we spend so much time apart from one another and we speak about it through social media and screen,” he said. “We are not coming together tonight to debate policies; I think it is important for us to be together in the same space and not simply behind our screens.”

Bryan Pietsch and Praveena Somasundaram contributed to this report, which is developing and will be updated.