INDIANAPOLIS — Three people are dead and two others are injured Sunday after a man with a rifle opened fire inside a Indiana shopping mall and an armed civilian shot him, authorities said.
The man entered the Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court, said Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison at a news conference. A mall patron who shot the man with the rifle was a 22-year-old man from Bartholomew County, Indiana, Ison said.
"The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began," he said.
One of the wounded was a 12-year-old girl with a minor injury. The other victims ranged in age from early 20s to 30, and all but one were female.
The shooting happened in the Greenwood Park Mall's food court around the mall's 6 p.m. closing time; the first emergency calls were received at 6:05 p.m. The mall, located in Greenwood, which is about 10 miles south of Indianapolis, has more than 130 indoor and outdoor restaurants and shops.
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Greenwood Mayor Mark W. Myers issued a statement Sunday night: "This tragedy hits at the core of our community. Please offer your prayers to the victims and our first responders."
“We are sickened by yet another type of incident like this in our country,” Indianapolis Assistant Chief of Police Chris Bailey said.
Chris Roy, assistant manager of the mall's Van’s shoe store, was working Sunday when he saw people running through the hallway, away from the food court, just before closing.
“So, I jumped over the counter, locked the door, gathered my associates and other managers at the back door,” said Roy, 30. "We just instructed everybody to keep quiet."
Authorities said they would provide more details Sunday night.
Contributing: Alexandria Burris, IndyStar; The Associated Press
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