Three people were killed at a shopping center in Greenwood, Ind., in a shooting that ended when a gunman shot and killed the gunman, city authorities said.
Two other people were hospitalized in the shooting, which began when a man carrying a rifle and several ammunition magazines entered the mall’s food court and started shooting, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said. Authorities have not stated a motive for the shooting and have not identified the shooter.
The injured were a 12-year-old girl with a very minor wound to her back and another person who was in stable condition, Chief Ison said.
Mayor Mark Myers said late Sunday that the public faced no further threat and police had the situation under control. He asked the public to stay away.
“I’ve been a police officer for most of my life,” he said in an interview. “Yet this is incredibly shocking, not just for me, but for our entire community.”
Chief Ison said at a news conference on Sunday that the local emergency center began receiving calls about the shooting around 6 p.m. He said the threat ended when an armed passer-by, carrying a gun, stopped the gunman. “It appears that a Good Samaritan who was armed saw the shooting and shot the gunman,” he said.
Mr. Ison only identified the passerby as a 22-year-old man from Bartholomew County, about 35 miles south of the mall, adding that he was legally carrying a handgun. In a statement, Mr Myers praised the man’s actions.
“Someone we call the ‘Good Samaritan’ was able to shoot the attacker and stop further bloodshed,” said Mr. myers. “I am grateful for his swift action and heroism in this situation.”
Chief Ison had said investigators and other personnel would not cover the crime scene at the mall until a state bomb squad could determine whether a “suspicious” backpack left in a mall bathroom was dangerous. Late Sunday, he said investigators had found no explosive and had cleared the backpack.
Police said on Facebook they were looking for witnesses to the shooting, which took place about 15 miles south of Indianapolis.
The Metropolitan Police Department of Indianapolis said on Twitter that it helped the local authorities.
