More people would have died in the shootings in Indiana, USA, on Sunday night, without the “heroic” behavior of the bystanders who stopped the shooters, police said.
The heavily armed suspect killed three people and injured two at a shopping center near Indianapolis.
Elisha Dicken, 22, who was in the mall with her girlfriend, pulled a pistol and shot a gunman deadly.
The incident rekindled the American debate about gun ownership.
In a recent attack, the suspect fired with a rifle at the Greenwood Park Mall food court in Greenwood.
Police said the gunman had two rifles, a pistol and more than 100 bullets.
He fired 24 rounds from one of the rifles before being killed about two minutes after the assault.
Greenwood police chief Jim Ison said on Monday that Mr. Dicken had been engaged with shooters from almost the beginning of the attack.
Police chief said Dicken showed “skilled” and “healthy” tactics when firing at “gunmen with pistols from quite a distance,” even though he had no law enforcement or military training. Said that.
Mr. Dicken also gestured that other shoppers would run away from behind him “when he was engaged and approached the suspect,” the police chief said. He fired 10 rounds.
Dicken, who was legally carrying a hidden pistol, was initially handcuffed and cross-examined by police before his version of the event was confirmed on CCTV footage.
“More people would have died last night if there were no responsible armed civilians who acted very quickly within the first two minutes of the shooting,” Ison said.
“I would say his actions were nothing but heroic,” the police chief added.
The attacker was identified as a 20-year-old local who was recently kicked out and lost his job in a warehouse.
Two of the three killed were married couples, and the third was a 30-year-old man. A 22-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl were injured.
Gun advocates have filed the proceedings as an example of why it is important for law-abiding citizens to own guns.
In a tweet on Monday morning, the National Rifle Association, a gun lobby, said, “I’ll say it again. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to be a good guy with a gun.”
However, such results are rare. The FBI reported in May that only two of the 61 attacks last year ended when armed bystanders engaged active shooters.
A recent series of gunfire incidents, including a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a parade in Highland, Illinois, has rekindled American debate about gun law.