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Greenwood police chief slammed for calling suspect Jonathan Sapirman's shooter a 'good samaritan'

'Same thing. A killing is a killing. We just like our silly little justifications so we can sleep at night,' one user said

Update: Jonathan Sapirman, 20, has been identified as the gunman who tried to shoot up the Greenwood Park Mall food court using a military-style Sig Sauer on  July 17, Sunday.

Sapirman reportedly waited in the bathroom at Greenwood Park Mall for an hour before unleashing chaos in the mall. The victims who died as a result of his firing have been named as Pedro Pineda, 56, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, and Victor Gomez, 30.

Police have also identified the 'good Samaritan' from Bartholemew County, Indiana, who is supposed to have shot dead Sapirman putting an end to his shooting spree. Elisjsha Dicken, a 22-year-old who was shopping with his girlfriend has been praised for his heroic act. He also received some amount of criticism for having a handgun on his person and shooting Sapirman dead. 

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GREENWOOD, INDIANA: Six people were shot, four people, including the shooter, were killed and two were injured on Sunday afternoon, July 17, at the Greenwood Park Mall which is almost 15 miles south of Indianapolis. The incident occurred around 6 pm. The investigation is still surrounding the incident. The police officials were notified shortly before 6 pm when several gunshots were fired in the food court. 

Greenwood Chief James Ison, during a briefing with WTHR's 13 News said, "I would like to say and send out our heartfelt condolences to the victims' families in the tragedy. This has shaken us to our core. This isn't something we've seen in Greenwood before. It is absolutely horrendous." Ison also explained that the shooter, who was only identified as an adult male, is believed to have acted alone and that he was armed with a rifle and had multiple magazines before he started shooting. According to the Indianapolis Star, the "good Samaritan" is a 22-year-old man from Bartholomew County, Indiana, as per Chief Ison. According to 13News reporter Logan Gay, people inside the food court heard around 20 gunshots in the food court, which was seemingly the only place where the shooting took place. 

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However, people have slammed Chief Ison for calling a man a "good Samaritan". Some people argued that he was just another armed vigilante who was being hailed as a hero now, and some argued that he should have been just called 'a civilian'.

In a news conference at around 7:45 pm, Indianapolis Police Department confirmed that multiple units had swept and were sweeping to check if there were any more victims of this attack. They also said that they didn't have any information on the motive of this shooting and that the victims are being interviewed. The victims include one male victim and four female victims, one of whom is a 12-year-old girl with a minor injury to her back. IMPD explained that the bystander, who shot down the shooter with what appeared to be a handgun, is duly cooperating with the police. The officials have not yet revealed the identity. IMPD shared a live briefing on Facebook as well. 

People are angry at IMPD chief for calling the shooter "a good Samaritan"

One user clearly noted that both, the shooter and the man who gunned down the shooter, were gunmen at the base level saying, "What you have is two gunmen- one of whom obeyed the law for a little longer than the mass shooter. Note that the mass shooter was a "law abiding gun owner" till he opened fire." Another user wrote that both men killed saying, "Same thing. A killing is a killing. We just like our silly little justifications so we can sleep at night."

One user blamed the police for using religious undertones saying, "Youre right. It is a quote from the police and it’s no surprise they have religious undertones. A citizen or civilian would have sufficed." Another user explained a little journey to becoming an armed revolutionary saying, "From good Samaritan to self-regulating militia member to self-appointed vigilante to common law sheriff to armed revolutionary is an increasingly short distance."

One person expressed how "killing the right person" is also a problem saying, "I also have a problem with an example of ultimate compassion being used for “killing the right people.” Another user wrote, "An armed vigilante, indirectly commissioned by the State of Indiana, murdered the suspect."

Greenwood Park Mall shooting

As per the chief, the investigation is still pretty much in its early stage, so much so that the injured victims' status was also unknown. However, he did mention that the officials found a suspicious bag beside a Dick's Sporting Goods store, which was retrieved and is now being investigated by the bomb squad. One witness, Abigail, who works at the store, told reporter Rafael Sanchez, "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. 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."

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Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers, in a statement also shared on Facebook said, "This tragedy hits at the core of our community. Please offer your prayers to the victims and our first responders." The FBI, ATF, Department of Homeland Security, and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department are assisting in the investigation.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.