A gunman armed with a rifle shot and killed three people and injured two others including a 12-year-old girl in a shopping mall in Indiana on Sunday, but the terror came to an end when a 22-year-old shot the suspect with his handgun.
The young girl involved is said to be being treated for minor injuries including a cut on her back and the other wounded individual also sustained no life-threatening injuries and is in a stable condition in hospital.
Those shot were all young people – in their 20s and 30s. Two were female.
Greenwood Police Chief James Ison told reporters that the gunman had entered the Greenwood Park Mall in an Indianapolis suburb around 6pm Sunday evening and began to open fire on seemingly random shoppers:
“It appears that he had a rifle with several magazines of ammunition, entered the food court and began shooting,” a police spokesman told reporters.
He was armed with a rifle and numerous magazines and shoppers and staff scattered and hid as they heard the gunshots. Eyewitnesses told reporters how the terrifying scene unfolded:
“I was standing at the gate, ready to close to for the day. I heard 30 gunshots and I just saw people running towards the store. I was just letting in as many people as I could before I shut the gate,” mall worker Abigail told WRTV.
“I wanted to close the gate, but people kept running at me… I have three kids at home, and I just wanted to get home.”
In the food court of Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana killed three people. The gunman was shot down by armed civilians pic.twitter.com/tiSZcZhpRv
— Nguyen Ken (@NguyenK68421403) July 18, 2022
Chris Roy, the assistant manager of Vans in the mall told the Indianapolis Star that when he saw panicking people running, he “jumped over the counter, locked the door, gathered my associates and other managers at the back door”.
Roy said he “just instructed everybody to keep quiet” as his staff hid along with around 50 frightened shoppers for around 15 minutes before police evacuated them from the center.
Police entered the building shortly after 6pm but the gunman was already dead in the food court, where the entirety of the shooting had occurred.
A bomb squad was also called in to assess a backpack which had been left in the food court, but this was later cleared.
Here are pictures of the Greenwood Park Mall FOOD COURT… pic.twitter.com/vFaW7pxAOR
— Steve Norris (@SteveNorrisTV) July 18, 2022
But the real savior of the day was a 22-year-old armed with a handgun, who saw what was taking place and shot the shooter dead before he had the chance to murder more people.
Indianapolis police chief, James Ison said the young, unnamed hero from Bartholomew County, Indiana is a “hero” and praised him for his quick thinking and brave actions:
“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,” Ison said
In a statement, the mayor of Greenwood, Mark Myres paid tribute to the victims, but also thanked the responsible gun owner for “saving lives”:
“We do know that someone we are calling the ‘Good Samaritan’ was able to shoot the assailant and stop further bloodshed. This person saved lives tonight. On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation.”
I wonder if the mainstream media will have much to say about this heroic gun owner.
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News