OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
A 22-year-old man named Elisjsha Dicken stopped a mass shooting at an Indiana mall.
The gunman entered the mall with a rifle and several magazines and began firing into the crowd at the mall’s food court. He was able to kill three and wounded two people.
Within 15 seconds, Dicken shot and killed the gunman from 40 yards away using his 9mm Glock handgun.
Dicken was at the mall with his girlfriend. Police say the entire incident was captured on security surveillance video.
Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said Dicken’s actions were “heroic” and “very tactically sound” despite him having no police or military background.
“The time lapse between the moment that Jonathan Sapirman exited the restroom and began shooting, and when he was shot by the civilian was only fifteen seconds, not two minutes,” Ison said. “The surveillance video shows Sapirman exit the restroom at 5:56:48pm. He was neutralized by Dicken at 5:57:03 pm.”
“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.
“I will say his actions were nothing short of heroic,” he added.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN—“A Good Guy With A Gun”
Elisjsha Dicken, 22 years old, has been cited as the hero who saved lives when he used his concealed carry weapon to stop a mass shooter firing into a crowded food court, in Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/xVnzRH8kXQ
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) July 19, 2022
Security surveillance footage at the mall captured nearly the entire incident.
Ison said Dicken “engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, was very proficient in that, very tactically sound, and as he moved to close in on the suspect he was also motioning for people to exit behind him.”
More on this story via Daily Wire:
Dicken was carrying his Glock legally. He did not have a permit, according to Newsweek, but per Indiana constitutional carry law effective July 1, he did not require one.
Indiana attorney Guy Relford, representing Dicken, said his client followed the law during the incident. “He checks all those boxes as perfectly as he possibly could.”
The Greenwood Park Mall has a no-gun policy, IndyStar noted, but Relford said this creates no legal challenges for his client.
“It certainly has no effect whatsoever on his ability to use force to defend himself or to defend the other people in the mall, Relford said, IndyStar reported.
Basically, if Dicken carried the gun into the mall and was asked to leave for doing so but did not leave, he could be charged with trespassing, the attorney said.
