Greenwood officials praise Seymour hero who ended shooting spree

Greenwood officials are praising the actions of a young Seymour man in stopping a Sunday shooting that left four dead at Greenwood Park Mall.

At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said that without the actions of 22-year-old Elisjsha “Eli” Dicken, the incident could have been even worse.

Ison said Dicken’s actions were nothing less than heroic, engaging the gunman who was shooting a rifle while armed with only a pistol and at a distance.  Police say that Dicken does not appear to have any military or police training.

Mayor Mark Myers praised Dicken’s actions:

Ison said that the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Johnathan D. Sapirman of Greenwood, came to the mall with two rifles, several magazines with more than 100 rounds of ammunition and a handgun. At just before 6 p.m. he emerged from the mall restroom and began firing, killing three people and injuring two others.

Within two minutes of the start of Sapirman’s shooting spree, he was confronted by Dicken who was carrying a concealed 9mm pistol. Dicken engaged the shooter hitting Sapirman several times. Sapirman tried to retreat back to the restroom, but fell to the ground and died.

Although Dicken did not have a license to carry the concealed weapon, he was legally allowed to do so under Indiana’s Constitutional Carry law, police say.

Authorities said that the victims of the shooting were 30-year-old Victor Gomez, 56-year-old Pedro Pineda and his wife 37-year-old Rosa Rivera de Pineda,all of Indianapolis. Police say autopsies will be performed today on Sapirman and the three victims. Those wounded included a woman shot in the leg and a 12-year-old girl who was hit by a ricochet.

Police Chief Ison said that the Johnson County dispatch center was overwhelmed by calls from the mall and those overflow calls were forwarded to Bartholomew County’s dispatch center which fielded more than 50 of the calls. Bartholomew County deputies also responded to the mall to assist at the scene.

Ison said that the police have recovered many items of personal property left by those fleeing from the mall during the incident. People can pick those up at the Greenwood Police Training Center starting today.