A 22-year-old man with a gun stopped a mass shooting at an Indiana mall on Sunday, saving countless lives, according to authorities.
The man who fatally shot the active shooter has been identified as Elisjsha Dicken. Here’s what we know about the young man and the shooting.
The Incident
Dicken was at the mall with his girlfriend when the shooter opened fire on unsuspecting shoppers at a mall in Greenwood, about 15 miles south of Indianapolis. Within two minutes of the first shot, Dicken used his 9-millimeter Glock handgun to fire off at least ten rounds and kill the shooter.
“I will say his actions were nothing short of heroic,” Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said of Dicken. Greenwood Park Mall surveillance footage captured nearly the entire incident, he noted.
Dicken “engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, was very proficient in that, very tactically sound, and as he moved to close in on the suspect he was also motioning for people to exit behind him,” Ison explained.
His Gun Was Legal
Dicken was carrying his Glock legally. He did not have a permit, according to Newsweek, but per Indiana constitutional carry law effective July 1, he did not require one.
Indiana attorney Guy Relford, representing Dicken, said his client followed the law during the incident. “He checks all those boxes as perfectly as he possibly could.”
The Greenwood Park Mall has a no-gun policy, IndyStar noted, but Relford said this creates no legal challenges for his client.
“It certainly has no effect whatsoever on his ability to use force to defend himself or to defend the other people in the mall, Relford said, IndyStar reported.
Basically, if Dicken carried the gun into the mall and was asked to leave for doing so but did not leave, he could be charged with trespassing, the attorney said.
His Lawyer
The IndyStar describes Relford as a prominent voice on Indiana’s gun laws and a firearms instructor.
Relford has called his client “a true American hero who saved countless lives during a horrific event that could have been so much worse if not for Eli’s courage, preparedness and willingness to protect others,” Newsweek reported.
The attorney made it clear no “substantive comments” will be made until the investigation is closed.
“Because we want to respect the on-going criminal investigation by the Greenwood Police Department and take time to honor the three innocent lives lost, we won’t be making any substantive comments on Sunday’s events until after the authorities’ investigation is closed,” the lawyer said, asking the media for privacy.
What Else
Multiple outlets have said Dicken is from Seymour, Indiana.
According to Newsweek, the young man gave permission to authorities to release his name, age, and hometown, but little else is known.
Source: Dailywire
