Police Thank 'Good Samaritan' for Stopping Mall Shooting

Authorities are expressing their gratitude to an armed bystander after he shot and killed a gunman who opened fire in a shopping mall food court in Indiana. The mass shooting took place Sunday evening at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, leaving three dead and two injured, including a 12-year-old girl who suffered a minor injury. The second injured person is hospitalized in stable condition, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison said at a presser, per CNN. The victims were all female, save for one male, ranging in age from early 20s to 30, reports USA Today.

"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," Ison said, identifying the citizen as a 22-year-old from Bartholomew County. Ison added that the gunman had been armed with a "long gun," while the "Good Samaritan" apparently had a handgun. The Washington Post notes that Indiana just this month nixed the requirement for those carrying, concealing, or transporting a handgun to have a permit, though certain people, including convicted felons and those under 18, are still barred from carrying a handgun. To buy a long gun, one has to be 18 and show valid ID, as well as pass a federal background check; Indiana doesn't require one itself.

Simon Property Group, which oversees the mall, has a ban on weapons included in its code of conduct, though it notes that "exceptions to this code of conduct will be determined by local center management." Patrons and workers in the mall are now describing the chaotic scene that broke out right around closing time at 6pm as gunshots rang out. "I jumped over the counter, locked the door, gathered my associates and other managers at the back door," an assistant manager at the Vans shoe store tells USA Today. "We just instructed everybody to keep quiet." A woman who was shopping at Old Navy with her mom tells CNN she now doesn't think she'll go back to the mall "for a very long time." (More mass shootings stories.)