Elisjsha Dicken, the armed citizen responder who fatally shot an active killer at the Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana on Sunday, acted much faster than authorities originally reported.
After watching surveillance footage of the incident, investigators said that the 22-year-old responded to the threat within 15 seconds after the shooting began.
Dicken was reportedly about 40 yards away and was able to put 8 of 10 rounds on target. The wounded perp attempted to retreat to safety in a nearby bathroom but did not make it. The suspect fell to the ground and expired.
“The surveillance video shows Sapirman exited the restroom at 5:56:48 p.m. He was neutralized by Dicken at 5:57:03 p.m,” Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“This error was simply a result of misreading notes during the conference. I feel the need to correct this immediately,” Ison continued. “Thank you.”
Authorities also stated that Dicken had no formal military or police training. The young man’s grandfather taught him how to shoot, reported WTHR 13.
“His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun. Was very proficient in that, was tactically sound and as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him,” Chief Ison said.
“Many people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of this shooting,” Ison added.
New Poll: Americans Trust Armed Civilians More than the Police to Stop Active Shooters
Though it was initially reported that Dicken was carrying his handgun in accordance with Indiana’s new Constitutional Carry law, the attorney representing the young man, Guy A. Relford, posted on Twitter that Dicken is a licensed permit holder.
we wanted to clarify the matter and state that Mr. Dicken was issued a LTCH by the Indiana State Police on August 4, 2021. (4) pic.twitter.com/rGrtWzgFp6
— Guy Relford (@guyrelford) July 20, 2022
He was carrying a Glock handgun chambered in 9mm.
Relford also released a statement about his client:
I am proud to serve as Eli Dicken’s attorney and spokesperson. He is a true American hero who saved countless lives during a horrific event that could have been so much worse if not for Eli’s courage, preparedness and willingness to protect others. Because we want to respect the ongoing criminal investigation by the Greenwood Police Department and take time to honor the three innocent lives lost, we won’t be making any substantive comments on Sunday’s events until after the authorities’ investigation is closed. In the interim, we ask that you respect the privacy of Eli and his family.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with Dicken’s “legal and financial challenges.” It was set up by state Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) with the goal of raising $500,000.
“Because of how society is, he has had to retain legal help, and we know how expensive that can be, plus just for any future needs he may have,” Lucas said. “The young man went through a horrible experience, if he needs counseling, if he has to take some time off of work.”
“I’d like for this to go nationwide,” he added. “Let people show support for heroes.”
“I know he’s getting nationwide coverage, so I think 330 million Americans can pony up and come up with half a million dollars fairly easy,” Lucas said. “But if we don’t reach it, we don’t reach it.”
The deceased victims of the attack, Pedro Pineda, 56, Rosa Miriam Rivera de Pineda, 37, and Victor Gomez, 30, also have GoFundMe pages set up for their surviving family members.
It is sad that he would need a lawyer, he did nothing wrong and saved people so why does he need legal help
So, it took, like 40 years of ar15 manufacture before one was used in a mass murder situation? Or did i hear wrong somewhere? Along about the time some talking head labelled them “evil”, roughly? Heres what happenned then; “So, hey, its an evil gun, let all us manchurian candidate wannabees get us an ar! Now, wheres my ritalin?”
STUPID STUPID STUPID, ALL THE LAW AND RESTRICCION AGAIN TO BUY GUNS ONLY IS AGAIN WORKERS AND GOOD AMERICANS, BECAUSE THE CRIMINALS THEY WILL BROKE ANY LAW IN THE BOOK, THA IS THE REASON THEY CALL CRIMINALS THE CRIMINALS ALWAS THEY WILL HAVE ANY GUN, INCLUDE R15, AK47 GRANADE AND MORE POWERULL MACHINE GUNS. PUT THE DEAD PENALTY TO MANY CRIME AND KEEP THE CRIMINAL IN JAIL ALL THEY LIFE, THE LEFT REDUCE JAIL TO ALL THE CRIMINALS WA U THING CRIME IS BIGER AND GROWN-UP? IDIOTS POLITICIANS ARE RESPONSABLE, BLM-ANTIFA-SOCIALITS, ARE RESPONSIBLE, ALL THE POLITICIANS WHO WANT “DEFUND THE POLICE” ARE RESPONSIBLE
Your caps lock is on.
Hey Blue Dog, do you really believe ARs that are explicitly purchased to gun down American children and families in our schools and streets?
There are approximately 20,000,000 ARs in the US and together with other sporting rifles that are semi auto, AKs, SKSs, Rugers, etc, there are probably 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 more. Conservatively speaking, using the low numbers of the estimates, that would about 50,000,000 guns bought specifically bought to murder children and families in our schools and streets.
A mass shooting claims four victims so that would come to 200,000,000 children and families in our schools and streets have been targeted for murder. According to the 2020 census, the US has about 330,000,000 people. According to Blue Dog, the census is wrong and there are only 130,000,000 people left in the US, the rest having been killed in mass shootings by what are erroneously called “assault rifles”.
Each and every criminal put down is a step in the right direction to bring down crime in this country.
That is a true statement if I ever heard one
1. Raise semiautomatic rifle purchase age to 21.
2. Add a few questions to that background form, I’ve filled out longer forms to buy a dog.
3. Maybe assault rifles need to be NFA items requiring more effort to attain.
4. Some kind of 100 question mental health evaluation along with your background check.
5. Eliminate gun free zones as that just creates easy targets. The shooter in Colorado king Soopers DIDN’T choose the king Soopers I go to after scouting it because he knew people like me could be there armed, instead he drove 10 minutes away to Boulder, a gun free city, because he knew they wouldn’t be armed.
It pains me to suggest these measures as I own lots of guns including 3 self assembled ARs. But we do need to do more to prevent crazies from walking into any store and slapping down their mammies lunch money.
Right on. Someone finally with a brain on this list! Generally it is filled with ignorant, self-absorbed, illogical comments as if one were listening to the Fox ultra right wing imbeciles.
Items 1-4 tell me you are a Fudd at best, and more likely totally anti-gun. “I own lots of guns/support the 2A, BUT…” says it all.
This is so true,mental illness make one MORE dangerous than acrimminal
Why is it that I can’t find any information about the shooter in the mall? No name… no photos… nothing! Did he not fit the “leftist” agenda for mass shooters??
Why does the hero at the mall shooting need a lawyer? is he being charged with something?
HE SHOULD NOT.He did not commit a crime
Had heard “at a distance” but figured maybe 50 feet or so…nothing of “8 of 10” from “40 yards” (120 feet)…that’s amazing to be sure. Truly a GOOD SAMARITAN…hero, etc…BRAVO…!
As a side, there was a recent gas station incident…forget the location/city… where a good guy was exiting the station market while a bad guy was entering..the good guy turned around in time to see the bad guy grab the clerk and hold a knife to her throat…the good guy retrieved his firearm from his vehicle at the pump and confronted the bad guy, shooting/killing him when the bad guy advanced toward him. If I missed this story here, please cover it.
Saint Charles MO
Guy robbed one station cut the attendant, broke into another station and robbed the third one all within 22 minutes where he met the good guy.
It was covered here last week.
This was a block from my house.
Surprised that the government hasn’t spent a bunch of taxpayers money to do a study as to whether criminals obey laws or not.
We need to pay attention to just how much of the money raised to defend Eli actually goes to him. (state Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) with the goal of raising $500,000.) These politicians will steal money from babies!
I think one must be a thief to be in politics
I doubt he will need money for counseling, but possibly. He will need more money for ammo and continued practice to keep up the good marksmanship.
I know this mall well and I believe 40 yards is also a misstatement. I would be inclined to believe the reporting officer meant to say 40 feet. It would be very hard to even get 40 yards away from anyone in that food court and still have a clear sight line on them. In either case Mr. Dicken is a true hero and a great source of pride for us here in Indiana. His actions also crystallized the benefit of constitutional carry which had only been in effect here for 16 days went he used that right to stop further tragedy. Also, some uninformed celebrity personalities have stated that Dicken was breaking the law by having a gun in a posted gun free zone. In Indiana it’s perfectly legal to have your gun at the mall regardless of the posting. If they ask you to leave you must leave or you can be charged with trespass but it is not a weapons violation. God bless Mr. Dicken and all those that carry to keep our loved ones and our society safer.
“…an AWB would do more to curb these AR purchases, ARs that are explicitly purchased to gun down American children and families in our schools and streets.” <<< That is one of the least truthful and most outrageous comments I have ever heard an anti-gunner make. Sir, you don't have a clue. Where did you ever hear such ridiculous nonsense? I would suggest the average citizen needs to be more afraid of your type of thought processes and reasoning then they need to be afraid of any AR-style weapon out there.
” the armed citizen responder who fatally shot an active killer at the Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana on Sunday, acted much faster than authorities ” …
When ” SECONDS ” count… police are only 27 minutes away … ( OK, OK… only 4 here in my little Village … )
VERY VERY TRUE.Iam not antipolice,but the cant be everywhere all of the time,and in my little town of UVALDE where they were the on time were of little,I would say no help at all
Blue Dog – really? Where do you come up with the idea ARs are bought just to go shoot up kids and schools? Most of the time I read your comments and just pass on a reply so as not to feed the troll. Not today.
You can choose to be whatever affiliation you want, D, R, L. Doesn’t matter. But PLEASE do some research into the topic/discussion BEFORE you post. Make an INFORMED comment so you can have a talking point that at least looks like you tried to understand the story. This article is about a positive outcome from a genuine hero. This young man thought through and reacted in the best possible way. How about we go with that instead of ARs are bad. You don’t like ARs, don’t have one. But leave the rest of America to their own choices.
People saying we need “assault weapons ban” forget the fbi own statistics showed the last ban did NOTHING to curb gun violence. Only made it harder for the law abiding to fight back. Against those who will have the weapon regard of law.
The sad thing about this is that Dicken has to pay for legal counsel to defend himself for what appears to be a 100% justifiable shooting. Had one or more of the 10 rounds he fired killed someone besides Sapirman, or injured injured others, that’d be a different scenario. Maybe he’s facing potential lawsuits for property damage by the 2 bullets that missed Sapirman. Who knows? Just goes to show that “There’s a lawyer attached to every bullet.” is so true, no matter what the circumstances.
No shit! They should be giving him a medal.
Maybe we start with a total disarmament of Democrats. Once we’ve solved 95% of the problem, we can move on to more pressing problems, like bovine emissions.
I understand the Hero used a Glock 9mm. Does anyone know what model it was?
Well, a good guy with a gun finally gets one. That is what, one out of six? Maybe, just stay with me here, maybe – an AWB would do more to curb these AR purchases, ARs that are explicitly purchased to gun down American children and families in our schools and streets. How many mass shootings a day before we cross the threshold for considering such common sense measures supported by sharp majorities of Americans in study after study?
Let me get this correct. You are suggesting that the ATF do something about AR-15? WTF are they going to do? How ’bout they start enforcing the laws that are already on the books? WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE LAWS ON GUNS. How ’bout they look into if this nut bag was in contact with the FBI – as most mass shooters are! How about they look into if the nut bag was seeing a psychiatrist? How ’bout they look at what medications the shooter was on? Next you will be saying if they all drove GM Vehicles to the shootings we should ban GM’s – that is your logic.MOLAN LABE
I’m not going to come at you crazy on this, but just know that you are definitely oversimplifying the matter.
A lot of these “mass” shootings that they say are happening aren’t this type of shooting. They are often a lot of gang activities like drive-bys and they are committed with handguns. The thing no one ever talks about is more people are killed using handguns than anything other firearms, yet you hardly hear about democrats trying to take them away. Well, they talk about it some, but no real effort to create legislation.
The AWB would really just be window-dressing, good PR for them and the start of chiseling away to gun rights. It’s a slippery slope. Personally, if I could have it my own way, I would say universal checks in purchases, raise semi-auto rifle purchasing to 21, along with with waiting periods and better background check system/evaluation and advanced licensing. Then full stop. No more laws.
Problem is that’s not how they are going to operate, by the time they are done with it we have nothing. It may not be in my lifetime we get that far, but for this reason I won’t budge.
Hey blueballs, maybe do some research before sounding like an imbecile. ARs are not explicitly purchased to “gun down children in our schools and streets.” Handguns are used WAY more in school shootings and in inner city shootings. Ignorant lefties like you think you’re going to ban ARs in this country; Ain’t going to happen. Si Vis Pacem Parabellum, Trump 2024! 2000 Mules proved creepy joe lost in 2020.
HANDGUNS are used in 90% of gun-involved deaths and 77% of “mass” shootings….yet, no mention of banning them from lefties like you. 🤔
BD never lists all the firearms he would permit and all the others he would ban. Mostly BD talks about the AR and sometimes the AK. That ommission could mean a number of things ranging from bad to worse. What does he own? What has he sold? Why would he stop with a “AWB”?
I do admit that while I had my FFL, a lot of what I would call assault weapons passed through my hands to customers. I even put together an AR lower to better understand what my customers were wanting. I owned an SKS personally. I sold both around the time I gave up my FFL and have worked to absolve myself of my sins.
I talk mostly about ARs because that is where the conversation is. AKs come in a distant second. Ban the MSRs. SAWs. FN-FALs. CETMEs. Mini-14s. Johnsons. SKSes. Galils. Special mention for Garands, just because I said Garand clip one time and some kid tried to correct me to magazine. And much, much more.
Have I properly fisked myself, Kane? XD
NO.
You have intentionally avoided the topic of pistols most importantly the semi-auto variants. Do you still own these firearms? If so, on what basis do you flag a vast and vague catagory of “assault style” firearms and seem to wave on, at least for now, pistols? Are you prepared to say that you do NOT own a Glock? A pistol magazine of more than 10 rounds?
Kane from above –
I do not own a Glock. I do own three 1911s chambered in .45 ACP. One ten round mag, none larger.
Tupperware is for leftovers, not for pistols. (They are dishwasher safe, too! ARs might be as well…)
So you have at least 3 semi-autos pistols which puts you on the the second eschalon of the lefty gun ban lists.
Generation Z wants to send aging baby boomer libs like you to the Gulags as soon as the chance presents itself.
Maybe we start with a total disarmament of Democrats. Once we’ve solved 95% of the problem, we can move on to more pressing problems, like bovine emissions.
The reason more mass shooters aren’t shot by responsible gun owners is mainly because mass shooters target soft areas in gun free zones (schools, theaters, malls, etc). Weird how the mass shooters don’t care about gun free zones. Thankfully a brave citizen had a gun in the Indiana mall, which had a no gun policy, btw (which is of course why the criminal chose it). Proof positive that gun free zones should be abolished because they do nothing but get people killed. It’s a special kind of stupid (i.e. people who “think” like you) to not recognize simple facts like those. And you know who I bet wished to god they had a gun: The teachers in those classrooms at Uvalde and all the others in mass shootings who were shot and killed.
As for your comment about AR’s: I own two, along with two AK’s (and a bunch of other guns): Not once have I thought about shooting anything but targets. Ignorance and stupidity are telling when someone like you stereotypes people.
One more thing before I go: Any gun will kill a human being. Banning any type of gun will do nothing to stop mass shootings. And restricting magazine capacity will do nothing. I can change a magazine in any gun I own in less than two seconds. More facts for people like you to ignore.
Good luck to you and your misinformed / ignorant / lying friends with your gun grabbing: You’re going to need it.
Blue dog needs to log out and never come back. He is a liberal troll, probably David Hogg’s butt buddy.
Richard is probably spot on with that comment , lol
Bluebird/it – your comments/position on AR’s is as insulting as it is ignorant, which is something regulars here are quite accustomed to. Study after study indicate that very few MSR’s are utilized in mass shootings regardless of what the talking heads in the mass media say. The vast majority are committed with handguns. I own several semi-auto long guns, ranging from WWll relics to MSR’s. Yes, a couple of ‘em are actually “AR’s” and others would make an “AR” look like a sling-shot. NONE of them were acquired for murdering anyone, much less children. Furthermore, none of them have ever done so either – they stay locked in my gun safe until I remove them. How is this possible ???? First and foremost because I’m not mentally deranged. Understand this, those of us that own them and believe in the 2nd Amendment are NOT going to give them up. Period. Best of luck to those of you on the other (losing) side of this debate.