A man has shot and killed three people when he opened fire in the dining area of a mall outside Indianapolis before a spectator killed the gunman, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said .
Key points:
- The shooter was alone and had a rifle and several rounds of ammunition
- He shot three people before being killed by an armed spectator
- A 12-year-old girl was one of two people injured
Two more people were injured in the incident, which took place in the early evening at Greenwood Park Mall, the Indianapolis Star reported.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen [who] he was legally carrying a firearm in the dining area and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he started, “Chief Ison told reporters.
He described the armed spectator as a 22-year-old man.
The shooter was alone and had a rifle and several ammunition carriers, the newspaper reported.
Four of those shot were women and a man, Chief Ison said.
He said a 12-year-old girl was one of two people injured, both in stable condition.
Police confiscated a suspicious backpack that was in a bathroom near the dining yard, Chief Ison said.
Officers rushed to the mall around 6 p.m. after news of the shootings.
Police did not disclose the names of the victims, the gunman or the spectator. Shoppers and mall employees were scattered at the sound of gunfire or hid.
The shootings occurred amid widespread concern about the frequency of shootings in the United States at schools, workplaces, and public areas that usually appear in headlines.
“We are sick from another type of incident like this in our country,” Indianapolis Deputy Chief of Police Chris Bailey said.
Greenwood is a suburb of southern Indianapolis with a population of about 60,000. Mayor Mark Myers called for “prayers [for] the victims and our first perpetrators “.
“This tragedy reaches the core of our community,” Myers said in a statement.
A series of gun massacres since May – at a New York grocery store, a Texas elementary school and an Illinois Independence Day parade – have renewed a fierce debate in the United States over gun regulations.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will adopt a bill this week that would ban certain assault weapons, the panel said Friday. This proposal is not expected to pass in the Senate.
Reuters / AP