3 p.m. Monday update
Greenwood Police have identified Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood as the shooting suspect in the Greenwood Park Mall shooting that took place Sunday evening. He is a graduate of Greenwood High School and lived alone at Polo Run Apartments prior to the shooting.
Police say Sapirman likely entered the mall with his Sig Saur long rifle broken into pieces and stored in a bag that was left behind at the mall bathroom.
Sapirman entered the bathroom directly after entering the mall and stayed in the bathroom for one hour and two minutes. It is likely he was preparing for the shooting, said Jim Ison, Greenwood Police chief.
Three guns were found at the scene, but only the SigSaur was used in the shooting.
Ison said Sapirman shot 24 rounds and killed three people and wounded two others.
The victims are all Indianapolis residents: Victor Gomez, 30, and husband and wife Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37.
Sapirman was shot by Elisjsha Dicken, 22, of Seymour. Ison said Dicken was lawfully carrying a gun, though the mall had a policy against carrying.
Dicken shot 10 rounds at Sapirman and police say that saved lives.
This story will be updated again shortly.
12:13 p.m. Monday update
Simon Property Group has closed the mall today. In a statement posted to the mall’s Facebook page Monday morning, mall officials said they were grieving for the victims and that violence has no place in this or any other community.
“We grieve for the victims of yesterday’s horrific tragedy at the Greenwood Park Mall. 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,” officials said.
The statement did not reference the mall’s policy against having guns on the property. Per Simon’s stated online policy, neither the gunman nor the “good Samaritan” should have had a gun at the mall.
10:34 a.m. Monday update
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spokesperson said Monday morning that the agency assisted the Greenwood Police in executing a search warrant at Polo Run Apartments, 800 Kings Mill Road, Greenwood. The FBI is also assisting with the shooting investigation at the mall.
The FBI spokesperson did not say if the warrant was connected to the shooting. The Daily Journal reached out to Greenwood police on more information on the warrant, along with whether or not it’s connected to the shooting, and has not yet heard back from officials.
The FBI is continuing to offer assistance and resources as needed to Greenwood Police, an FBI spokesperson said.
The names of the deceased individuals will be released at a 2 p.m. at a press conference to be held at Greenwood City Center.
Simon Property Group has closed the mall today. The Daily Journal reached out to Simon officials for an additional comment, but has not heard back.
Sunday, 10:20 p.m. update
Four people, including the shooter, are dead and two people are in the hospital following a mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall Sunday evening.
First responders from numerous Johnson and Marion county agencies responded to a report of a shooting at Greenwood Park Mall on U.S. 31 in Greenwood shortly around 6 p.m. Sunday.
Five people were shot during the shooting, three of which are deceased. The two remaining people were taken to Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis and are in stable condition, Greenwood Police Chief James Ison said Sunday.
Four of the victims shot were females and one was male, with ages ranging between the early 20s to 30s. One juvenile was injured, he said.
The shooter was shot and killed by a 22-year-old Bartholomew County man police who police are calling a good Samaritan. Police say the shooter, an adult male, had a long rifle with several magazines, Ison said.
The shooter’s identity has not been released and his motive is unknown, police said.
It is believed the shooter entered the food court and started firing. Police are calling the good Samaritan a hero for intervening. If had not been for his quick action, there could have been more lives lost, Ison said.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen who was lawfully carrying a firearm in the food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began,” he said.
The mass shooting has shaken city officials to their cores, Ison said.
“This isn’t something that we have seen here in Greenwood before. It was absolutely horrendous. Our thoughts and prayers are with with those loved ones hurting,” he said.
Officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department SWAT team, along with teams from the Indiana State Police and Greenwood police, finished a sweep of the entire mall by 9:40 p.m. Sunday. The teams had gone methodically through the mall Sunday evening to clear it, Ison and IMPD assistant chief Christopher Bailey said Sunday.
“We are sickened by yet another type of incident like this in our country, in our city,” Bailey said.
Police could not yet say how many guns were at the scene or how many shots were fired. A backpack was left behind and was later cleared and determined it did not contain an explosive, Ison said.
Evidence collection was just beginning at the time of GPD’s update around 9:41 p.m., Ison said.
“I expect we will be here until the early morning hours tonight,” he said Sunday night.
The investigation is ongoing, and an additional press briefing is scheduled for 2 p.m. today.
The mall was completely evacuated after the shooting and it remained unclear Sunday night if the mall will be open today, Ison said. The decision to open rests with Simon Property Group, which owns the mall.
Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said in a statement issued Sunday evening that the shooting was a tragedy that hit at “the core of our community.”
“Please offer your prayers to the victims and our first responders,” Myers said.
In a second statement issued later on Sunday, Myers praised the good Samaritan, saying he was able to save lives.
“On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for his quick action and heroism in this situation,” Myers said.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, hundreds of witnesses, law enforcement and EMS are gathered outside of the mall on U.S. 31 in Greenwood following the reports of an active shooter in the building.
Witnesses standing outside the mall told the Daily Journal they heard several gunshots inside and ran out. One witness said they were ushered to the back of a store.
“I heard at least five shots from where I was … I was around the corner from where they started shooting,” Mark Tillbrey, a 16-year-old witness at the mall, said. “Everyone started running, and I started helping kids out.”
Greenwood police have trained for mass shooting situations before, and a few years ago the department took part in a coordinated training with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies from across the Indianapolis area for this type of situation, Ison said.
“Our officers responded the way they should have very quickly,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the law enforcement response not only from the Greenwood Police Department, but … the multi-jurisdictional cooperation.”
Ison wants Greenwood residents to know that the city’s officers are doing the best they can. Residents should feel safe in the city, he said.
“We strive on having a very safe city and low violent crime rate,” Ison said. “This is just something that shocked us to our core tonight.”
Editor Leeann Doerflein, Multimedia News Editor Emily Ketterer and reporter Noah Crenshaw contributed to this report.
