Gun control advocates and left-wing media figures are in a twist over the labeling of an armed hero who stopped a mass shooting at Indiana mall on Sunday as a ‘Good Samaritan.’
Elisjsha “Eli” Dicken, 22, likely saved lives by shooting down a man who had killed three people and wounded two more in Greenwood Park Mall, according to police and local officials. But Dicken, who was carrying his gun legally, is not being hailed as a hero by everyone and some took exception to the biblical accolade.
“The term, ‘Good Samaritan’ came from a Bible passage of a man from Samaria who stopped on the side of the road to help a man who was injured and ignored,” local CBS 4 traffic anchor Justin Kollar tweeted. “I cannot believe we live in a world where the term can equally apply to someone killing someone… my God.”
The term, “Good Samaritan” came from a Bible passage of a man from Samaria who stopped on the side of the road to help a man who was injured and ignored.
I cannot believe we live in a world where the term can equally apply to someone *killing* someone… my God. https://t.co/0a3sgzejzD
— Justin Kollar (@kollarjustin) July 18, 2022
Dicken, a resident of nearby Seymour, was shopping with his girlfriend when the man began shooting, firing off 24 rounds, according to police. The Daily Wire does not name mass shooters as part of a policy to deprive them of the attention they often crave. Dicken fired 10 rounds, injuring no one else, but killing the shooter.
While shoppers at the mall were no doubt grateful to Dicken, Leftists were not.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this but when a 22-year-old illegally brings a loaded gun into a mall and kills a mass shooter armed with an AR-15 after he already killed three people and wounded others is not a ringing endorsement of our implementation of the Second Amendment,” wrote Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action.
Contrary to Watts’ claim, authorities have confirmed that Dicken was lawfully carrying the handgun he used to end the massacre, and said he was fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation of the incident. According to a report by the Washington Post, just last month, Indiana removed a permit requirement to carry a handgun in public, over objections by police officials. The author of the bill to waive the permit requirement argued that doing so would allow “Mr. and Mrs. Lawful Hoosier” to “defend themselves in public.”
Dicken was in violation of a mall policy which banned customers from bringing guns inside, but in official statements the Greenwood Park Mall does not seem overly concerned by that, instead praising the young man for his life saving actions.
“We grieve for the victims of yesterday’s horrific tragedy in Greenwood.” a spokesperson for the mall said in a public statement. “ Violence has no place in this or any other community. We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect,”
Mark Meyers, the mayor of Greenwood, echoed that sentiment in his own public statement.
“Someone we are calling the ‘Good Samaritan’ was able to shoot the assailant and stop further bloodshed,” he wrote, before Dicken’s name was released by authorities. “This person saved lives tonight. On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation.”
Police described Dicken’s actions as “nothing short of heroic,”, noting that the young man had no police or military training but still stepped forward and ended the bloodshed two minutes after it began. This is in stark contrast to the increasingly excoriated response of law enforcement in Uvalde, who left an active shooter alone in a room full of elementary students for over an hour despite outnumbering the gunman by 376 to 1.
While outlets such as the Washington Post and The New York Times have characterized the ‘good guy with a gun’ as a “rare occurrence,” data from the CDC suggests that Americans use firearms defensively as many as 3 million times per year.
Source: Dailywire
