A “good Samaritan with a handgun” was able to stop a shooter at a shopping mall.
Fox News reported that a gunman opened fire at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, on Sunday.
Three people were killed and two others were injured.
However, Chief James Ison of the Greenwood Police Department said that a “good Samaritan with a handgun” was able to stop and kill the shooter.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop this shooter almost as soon as he began,” Ison said.
INDIANA MALL SHOOTING: Police say at least 3 people were killed at the Greenwood Park Mall before an armed civilian took down the shooter. ABC’s Rhiannon Ally reports. pic.twitter.com/CRiUNtOS5U
— ABC World News Now (@abcWNN) July 18, 2022
The shooter has reportedly been described as an adult male.
“This has shaken us to our core. This isn’t something that we have seen here in Greenwood before. It is absolutely horrendous and our thoughts and prayers are with those loved ones hurting tonight,” Ison explained.
Greenwood Mayor Mark Meyers issued a statement on Facebook responding to the shooting.
“This tragedy hits at the core of our community,” he said, adding, “Please offer your prayers to the victims and our first responders.”
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb tweeted that he was “thinking about all the victims of this horrible incident, now and in the days and weeks to come.”
I am monitoring the ongoing investigation in Greenwood, where Indiana State Police are assisting local authorities. Lives were lost today, and I’m thinking about all the victims of this horrible incident, now and in the days and weeks to come.
— Governor Eric Holcomb (@GovHolcomb) July 18, 2022
In June, The New York Times published a report titled, “Who Stops a ‘Bad Guy With a Gun’?”
The report found it is not that common for an armed bystander to attack an active shooter.
Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama, told the Times, “It’s direct, indisputable, empirical evidence that this kind of common claim that ‘the only thing that stops a bad guy with the gun is a good guy with the gun’ is wrong.”
He added, “It’s demonstrably false, because often they are stopping themselves.”