() — Three people were killed and two others were injured after a gunman opened fire in the food court of a Greenwood, Indiana, shopping center on Sunday night, police said.
Around 6 p.m. local time, multiple people called 911 to report an active shooter at the Greenwood Park Mall, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison told reporters.
Investigators believe the unidentified assailant, an adult male, was shot to death by a legally armed 22-year-old man who “observed the shooting in progress,” Ison said.
The victims include a man and four women, including a 12-year-old girl whose parents took her to hospital with minor injuries after the shooting, the police chief said, noting that she is expected to be “fine.” The second injured victim was hospitalized and was in stable condition as of Sunday night, Ison said.
Olivia Harding said she was at the Old Navy store in the mall when she and her mom heard four gunshots and thought the nearby carousel was breaking down.
“The next thing you know, you hear six more gunshots and you see everyone running,” Harding told affiliate WISH. Harding said she doesn’t think she’ll be back in a mall “for a long time.”
Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana.
The attacker appears to have used a long gun, according to Ison, although police had not recovered any weapons from the scene at the time he spoke to reporters, he said.
There have been 350 mass shootings this year, according to Gun Violence Archive which, like , defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, not including the gunman.
The community now joins others who are also dealing with the aftermath of mass shootings, including communities shaken by recent mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
SWAT teams cleared the mall and determined there were no additional threats in the building, Ison said, noting that investigators are now processing the crime scene.
Police are still investigating the gunman’s motive and questioning people who were inside the mall at the time of the attack, police said. They are asking all witnesses to contact authorities and have requested that the public stay away from the mall.
“This tragedy strikes at the core of our community,” Greenwood Mayor Mark Meyers said in a Facebook post. “Please offer your prayers to the victims and to our first responders.”
Meyers also expressed his thanks to the person who fatally shot the gunman while the shooting was in progress.
“This individual saved lives tonight. On behalf of the City of Greenwood, I am grateful for their swift action and heroism in this situation,” the mayor said in another release later Sunday night.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene and were assisting in the incident, including the FBI, ATF, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Homeland Security, Ison said.
Ison said the Greenwood Police Department has trained for a mass shooting scenario and has conducted “multiple exercises in the mall” to prepare for active shooter situations.
“But I will tell you that the real hero of the day is the citizen who was legally carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop this gunman almost as soon as he started,” Ison said.
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