Indiana Mall Armed Samaritan, Constitutional Carry, Fast response, Long Range, Good Tactics

Greenwood Police Chief Ison at Press Conference on July 18, 2022

At a press conference in Indiana on 18 March, Greenwood Police Chief Ison revealed details about the Armed Samaritan who stopped the mass murder at the Greenwood Park Mall on the south edge of the Indianapolis metroplex.

The suspect entered the mall at 4:54 p.m. according to security cameras, and went direct to the rest room near the food court. He stayed in the rest room for  an hour and two minutes., emerging and firing at 5:56. He killed three people and wounded two more in a few seconds.

At 5:57, Elisjsha Dicken, 22, who was shopping at the mall with his girlfriend, drew his pistol and started to engage the suspect at long range. He fired about 10 rounds with his 9mm pistol. Dicken was carrying the handgun legally, under the Constitutional Carry law which went into effect on July 1, 2022, in Indiana.

Surveillance video captured virtually the entire incident, according to Chief Ison.

Chief Ison stated Elisjsha Dicken was very proficient in his shooting and was tactically sound, advancing on the suspect who attempted to retreat to the restroom, but collapsed before he was able to enter. As Dicken fired and advanced on the suspect, he motioned people to move behind him to escape.

According to the Chief, Dicken had no police or military training.

Chief Ison said:

"Many more people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly." 

From wthr.com:

At 5:57 p.m., Elisjsha Dicken, an armed bystander, fired on Sapirman.
Dicken fired 10 rounds, hitting Sapirman as Sapirman tried to retreat
into the bathroom but collapsed and died.

Dicken had no police training or military background, according to
police. He was carrying under the new "Constitutional Carry" law and did
not have a permit.

 The police found 24 fired rounds of .223 caliber in the mall. The suspect fired only one rifle, a 5.56 (.223) caliber Sig Saur 400M rifle, similar to an AR15 rifle. A Smith & Wesson MP15 rifle was found disassembled in a backpack in the rest room. The suspect had a Glock .357 model 33 pistol on his person, which was never fired. The suspect had over 100 rounds of ammunition on him.

The Smith & Wesson Rifle had been purchased in March of 2021, the Sig 400M rifle in March of 2022.

Chief Ison explained the training which was done before the shooting. During the press conference, he spent some time on how the training concentrated on cleaning up the aftermath, controlling traffic, establishing a single command center, dealing with people looking for possible victims.

All these things are important. They are secondary to stopping the killing. In this case the police have done well at investigating and cleaning up the mess after the killing.

Opinion:

This case is an example of the value of Constitutional (permitless) carry. If Elisjsha Dicken had not been carrying in the Greenwood Park Mall, Chief Ison believes the death toll would have been much higher.  Police Chief Ison and the local authorities have done well by thanking Dickens for responding so quickly and effectively.

Even though  the police arrived very quickly by ordinary standards, the killing was over by the time police arrived. Dicken turned himself in to Mall security, explaining that he was one of the shooters.

Shooting is a sport.  Murder is a crime. It is Orwellian programing to infer shooters are murderers.  The Orwellian propaganda falls apart when it is clear an Armed Samaritan shooter stopped the killing.

Update: Eli Dicken has a valid Indiana Lifetime License to Carry Handgun.

©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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