Greenwood Park Mall shooting
On July 17, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, United States. The shooting occurred at 5:56 p.m. EDT (UTC−04:00) and lasted less than one minute. Three people were killed and two others were injured in the shooting[1] before the perpetrator, 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman, was fatally shot by 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, a legally armed civilian bystander.[2]
| Greenwood Park Mall shooting | |
|---|---|
| Part of mass shootings in the United States | |
An entrance to the mall, where the shooting occurred. Seen in November 2018 | |
| Location | Greenwood, Indiana, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 39°37′58″N 86°07′14″W / 39.6329°N 86.1205°WCoordinates: 39°37′58″N 86°07′14″W / 39.6329°N 86.1205°W |
| Date | July 17, 2022 5:56 p.m. (EDT) |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapons |
|
| Deaths | 4 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 2 |
| Perpetrator | Jonathan Douglas Sapirman |
| Defender | Elisjsha Dicken |
| Motive | Unknown |
Shooting
Around 4:55 p.m. on July 17, 2022, the perpetrator of the attack, Jonathan Sapirman, a local citizen from Greenwood, walked a mile from his apartment to the mall, carrying a SIG Sauer M400 semi-automatic rifle, a Smith & Wesson M&P15 AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, a Glock 33 pistol, and over 100 rounds of ammunition. He went into a restroom near the mall's food court, and did not come out until an hour and two minutes later, at which point he started shooting.[3]
At 5:56:48 p.m. on July 17, 2022, the perpetrator began firing into the food court area of the mall.[4] He first shot and killed Indianapolis native Victor Gomez, who was standing near the restroom entrance. He then turned and fired at a nearby table, fatally shooting Pedro and Rosa Pineda, a married couple from Indianapolis. Sapirman then continued to fire at mall patrons, injuring a 22-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl.[5][6]
Fifteen seconds after the shooting began, Elisjsha Dicken, a legally-armed 22-year-old man from Seymour, engaged the shooter in a gunfight. Dicken, a civilian bystander, was shopping with his girlfriend when the perpetrator opened fire.[7] From a distance of forty yards, Dicken fired ten rounds from a Glock handgun, hitting the shooter eight times. The shooter fired once, and attempted to retreat into the restroom, but instead fell to the ground and died soon afterwards.[8][9][10]
Afterwards, Dicken approached security guards at the mall, informed them that he had neutralized the shooter, and waited for police to arrive.[7]
Investigation
A bomb squad was also sent to the mall to investigate a suspicious backpack in one of the bathrooms near a Dick's Sporting Goods store.[11] The backpack was later deemed not to be a threat.[12]
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department stated there was no ongoing threat during a 7:45 p.m. EDT news conference on the day of the shooting.[13] Multiple agencies such as the FBI, the ATF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Johnson County Sheriff's Department are assisting in the investigation.[14] However, the motive for the attack is still unclear.[15]
Greenwood's Police Chief James Ison reported that the ammunition Sapirman purchased came from a Range USA store outside Interstate 65 between the borders of Greenwood and Indianapolis which Sapirman had frequented since 2020. Family members also told Greenwood Police that Sapirman frequented a local gun range at the Range USA store and began purchasing guns from various other stores across Greenwood, Southport, and Indianapolis.[16]
CNN said that "few other details have emerged about Dicken", and that Dicken had refused to comment on events, in order to "respect the ongoing criminal investigation by the Greenwood Police Department and take time to honor the three innocent lives lost".[7]
Aftermath
Police and EMS crews arrived at the mall shortly after the shooting and secured the building.[17] The wounded victims were sent to nearby hospitals to be treated for their injuries.[18]
The Greenwood Park Mall reopened on July 19, 2022, at 11 a.m, a little under two days after the shooting.[19]
Perpetrator
Jonathan Sapirman (born November 30, 2001), the shooter, had no adult criminal history,[20] but had gotten into a fight while attending Greenwood High School in his hometown in Indiana, and was a juvenile runaway.[21] An article on Heavy.com said that Sapirman "was from a troubled family",[22] and his parents divorced in 2017 (with his father moving to Surprise, Arizona, and his mother subsequently losing her job). He lived in a motel until March 2017.[citation needed] Later during the year, Sapirman was placed in a foster family at the Department of Child Services in Indianapolis, but was kicked out after an occurrence of abuse, and a guardianship petition was submitted by his older brother in 2018.[22] He had a job in a warehouse, which he quit in May,[23] lived in an apartment, from which he was facing eviction by July.[23] Prior to the shooting, he burned his laptop in the oven of his apartment, put his cell phone in a toilet at the shopping center,[20][24] and allegedly made at least one post on 4chan.[25]
According to a press conference about the shooting, the shooter's most used social-media website was Reddit,[26] where across a 5-year period from 2017 to 2022, he made over 700 comments on posts about mass shooters[27][28] via his 2 Reddit accounts, u/greatergermanicreich and u/grobergermanic; however, none of the comments indicated he was planning on committing a shooting. Most of his posts were discussions or debates about other high-profile mass shootings around America. He acknowledged that he researched mass shooters and serial killers, and he seemingly enjoyed debating with others about the tactics, motives, and details about these incidents. Sapirman was also fascinated with Nazi Germany.
Reactions
The mayor of Greenwood, Mark W. Myers, commended Elisjsha Dicken for preventing additional tragedy, stating, "On behalf of the city of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation."[29] Governor Eric Holcomb, former vice president Mike Pence, representative Jim Banks, representative Jackie Walorski, representative Jim Baird, Representative Trey Hollingsworth, Representative Greg Pence, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, and Senator Mike Braun made similar statements.[30]
In addition to the commendations for Dicken, Indiana House and Senate Democrats, Representative Mitch Gore, and Representative André Carson also expressed their sympathies towards the victims and their families, as well as speaking about the issue of gun violence in the United States.[30] Greenwood police chief James Ison said at a news conference that Dicken was a "responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly", and that his actions had been "very proficient".[7] According to investigators, Dicken had "no police training and no military training", and was taught how to shoot by his grandfather.[7]
On July 24, 2022, Sapirman's father and older brother released a statement through an attorney conveying condolences to those affected and that they were "unable to explain [the gunman's] actions", that they were cooperating with law enforcement and that they held "no feelings of hostility toward Mr. Dicken".[31]
See also
References
- ^ "Police: Armed bystander shot and killed Greenwood Park Mall shooter in just 15 seconds". wthr.com. July 17, 2022. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ "4 dead in mass shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana". BNO News. July 17, 2022. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ Fawcett, Eliza (July 18, 2022). "Bystander Killed Gunman 2 Minutes Into Indiana Mall Shooting". The New York Times.
- ^ Planas, Antonio; Romero, Dennis; Chalkia, Melina (July 18, 2022). "Indiana mall shooter brought multiple weapons, good Samaritan who shot him credited with saving countless lives". NBC News. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ 3 people killed and 2 injured during a shooting at an Indiana shopping mall CNN
- ^ "At least 2 dead in shooting at Greenwood Park Mall". WTTV CBS4Indy. July 17, 2022. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Theresa Waldrop. "What we know about the armed bystander who killed the shooter at an Indiana mall". CNN.
- ^ "Armed civilian neutralized Indiana mall shooter in just 15 seconds, authorities say". CBS News. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ "Four dead after a shooter uses a long gun to open fire at an Indianapolis-area mall". NBC News. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "TIMELINE: What happened leading up to the Greenwood Park Mall shooting". Fox 59. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- ^ McDougall, A. J. (July 17, 2022). "At Least 2 Dead, Several Injured in Indiana Mall Shooting: Cops". The Daily Beast. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ Staff report. "What we know about the shooting at Greenwood Park Mall". The Indianapolis Star. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Greenwood Park Mall shooting: 3 slain victims, shooter identified in Indiana". WFTV. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ Wolfe, Elizabeth; Moshtaghian, Artemis. "3 people killed and 2 injured in a mass shooting at an Indiana shopping mall". CNN. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Four dead, several wounded in mass shooting at Indiana shopping mall". Washington Examiner. July 18, 2022. from the original on July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Police reported ammunition bought from Greenwood's Range USA store outside Interstate 65 in Greenwood". Yahoo!. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Here's what happened inside Greenwood Park Mall before, during and after the mass shooting". wthr.com. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ "Greenwood Park Mall shooting leaves 2 dead, more injured". The Indianapolis Star. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ Essex, Richard (July 19, 2022). "A walk inside the reopened Greenwood Park Mall after mass shooting". WISH-TV | Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- ^ a b "Wife and husband among Greenwood mall victims; gunman identified". WTTV CBS4Indy. July 18, 2022. from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ Crenshaw, Noah (July 18, 2022). "Police identify victims, suspect in Greenwood Park Mall Shooting". Daily Journal. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ a b McBride, Jessica (July 18, 2022). "Jonathan Sapirman, Greenwood Mall Suspect: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "Indiana mall shooter brought multiple weapons, good Samaritan who shot him praised". NBC News. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ Yan, Amir Vera,Artemis Moshtaghian,Holly (July 18, 2022). "Police identify victims, gunman and armed bystander in Indiana mall shooting". CNN. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ "Indiana Mall Gunman Appears to Have Posted Plans on 4chan". www.vice.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- ^ LIVE: Greenwood Park Mall shooting update, retrieved December 22, 2022
- ^ "Police: Greenwood mall shooter fascinated with German Reich, yet 'no clear motive' for attack". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^ "Mall shooter told ex he would `take others' if he died". AP NEWS. December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^ Crenshaw, Noah (July 18, 2022). "Local leaders, lawmakers react to Greenwood Park Mall Shooting". Daily Journal. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "Indiana political leaders respond to Greenwood Park Mall shooting". Reporter-Times. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ "Family of Greenwood Park Mall shooter releases statement". WTHR. July 24, 2022.