The news of Indiana Mall shooting sent shockwaves across America this week as the carnage left four people dead. The extent of carnage could have been even more severe had a ‘good samaritan’ not used his gun to kill the shooter. The Indiana Police had earlier described the ‘good samaritan’ as a 32-year-old man. However, it has now emerged that the man, who killed the Indiana Mall shooter was 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, who used his personal pistol to shoot the killer dead.
According to earlier reports, the deadly incident took place inside a mall in Greenwood when the shooter carrying a rifle and several magazines of ammunition entered the mall’s food court and started firing indiscriminately. The mass shooting ended after the shooter was killed by a passer-by, who was lawfully carrying a gun.
Who Is Elisjsha Dicken?
22-year-old Dicken was at the mall with his girlfriend, Shay Goldman, when the shooter opened fire at the crowd, leaving three people dead. Applying his presence of mind, Dicken pulled out his own Glock handgun that he was legally carrying to kill the attacker.
The attacker, identified as Douglas Sapirman, was neutralized within minutes. Dicken’s bravery earned him plaudits from the local police, who declared him a ‘good samaritan.
Now more details have emerged about Dicken with the police even releasing his photo details about his girlfriend.
Green Police Chief James Ison had said on Monday, “Many more people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of the shooting.”
Dicken’s girlfriend shared the harrowing details about the shooting with her grandmother. “Eli (Dicken) pushed me out of the way and told me to get down and stay down.”
According Ison, Dicken returned fire ‘from quite a distance with a handgun — was very proficient in that, very tactically sound.’ According to the CNN website, as Dicken moved in on the gunman, he warned people to leave behind him. Ison added that Dicken had no previous ‘police training and no military training.’
Goldman’s grandmother told WTHR, “Everybody should be proud of him for what he’s done because if not, there would have been a lot more.”
Meanwhile, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers has requested people and media to provide ‘space and time’ to Dicken ‘to be able to process what he’s gone through.’