A civilian shot and killed a gunman who had opened fire on people in a shopping mall in Indianapolis, police in the US have said.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said a person opened fire at the Greenwood Park Mall, killing three people and wounding two others before being shot and killed by a civilian on Sunday evening. It is understood that police and other authorised personnel were searching the mall for any other casualties, but it appeared that the incident was contained to the food court.
Chris Bailey, the assistant chief of police at the IMPD, told reporters: “We are sickened by yet another type of incident like this in our country.” Greenwood Police Department chief Jim Ison said that officers had seized a suspicious looking backpack from a bathroom near the food court but later confirmed it did not contain a bomb. He added that there was no longer an active threat in the area. The mall was evacuated following the attack and investigators moved in to examine the scene.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and several other investigation agencies were said to be assisting in ongoing inquiries.
Mr Ison said that the gunman entered Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court. Officers had gone to the mall around 6pm local time following emergency calls. Greenwood is a suburb to the south of Indianapolis with a population of about 60,000.
In a press conference later at the scene Mr Ison said: "As you can imagine this kind of situation is horrible. We have what appears to be one shooter — an adult male. We have not identified him yet, we do not have a motive yet. It appears that he had a rifle with several magazines of ammunition in the food court and began shooting.
"We have five victims — four have been confirmed deceased (including the shooter), and two are in Eskenazi Hospital with wounds and we do not have an update on their condition at this time.
"Investigators are still questioning the individual involved but it appears that a Good Samaritan who was armed had observed the shooting in progress and shot the shooter."
He said there had been a fast response from police and other agencies, but added: "I'm going to tell you the real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop this shooter almost as soon as he began." Mr Ison did not give his name but said he was a 22-year-old male from Bartholomew County — about 30 miles south of the shopping mall.
We strive in having a low crime rate and this is something that has shocked us to the core tonight and our hearts go out to all the victims' families," Mr Ison added.
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