Indiana mall shooter was waiting in the bathroom of the food court for nearly an hour. The victims include a couple who are married.
The suspect, who is 20 was in a bathroom close to the food court in the Greenwood Park Mall for about two and a half hours before he went into the restaurant firing the Sig Sauer firearm. The suspect got “neutralized” after just two minutes but not before the gunman was allowed to shoot five individuals including a 12-year-old who was able to survive and three others who died, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison said Monday.
“The most intriguing element of this puzzle is that he was in the bathroom for over an hour plus two mins … It is our think the man had a shower.”
Two individuals including the gunman were declared dead on the spot. Two others were taken into an Indianapolis hospital. However, they were not be saved.
The victims who died are confirmed by their names: Pedro Pineda, 56, his wife, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda 37 as well as Victor Gomez, 30.
Officials have stated that they believe the suspect walked into the mall carrying two weapons, one of which was deconstructed and was hidden in his bag.
The suspect was wearing an “waistband that was a holster with several magazines.” Also, he was carrying a backpack in which was an additional firearm, a gun which was “broken down” which he put inside the bathroom as well as “several cartridges.” The investigation revealed that the alleged shooter bought his Sig Sauer on March 8 2022 in Greenwood.
A RESTRICTED TIMELINE FOR EVENTS
Police line the streets outside of Dick’s Sporting Goods at Greenwood Park Mall (Facebook/@Ty J S)
The suspect was spotted entering the mall through an entrance near the food court at around 4.54 p.m., Ison said.
“He is able to walk straight to the restroom in the food court,” he continues. “One an hour, two and a half minutes later, he gets out of the bathroom then shoots Victor Gomez outside of the bathroom.”
The shooter then “points his rifle at the food court, where Pedro along with Rosa Pineda were having dinner and then shoots each of them. Rosa as well as Pedro.”
The gunman continued firing rounds, hitting a 22-year-old woman who sustained injuries to her leg, Ison said. A gunman’s shot fragments also hit the wall and struck a young girl “who had been running.”
A customer walks through a door at the closed Greenwood Park Mall located in Greenwood, Indiana, Monday the 18th of July, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
at 5:57 p.m. Just 2 minutes since he launched his assault – the legally armed “good Samaritan” known as Elisjsha Dicken responded using a pistol. Dicken was going shopping along with his partner at the time.
“The shooter fired multiple rounds, hitting the suspect. The suspect attempted to escape to the bathroom, but was unsuccessful – he fell on the floor after having been hit.”
The gunman was alleged to have had fired 24 bullets. Dicken fired 10 rounds, Ison told.
Ison was once more praised Dicken in his life-saving action.
“Once the man was out and began shooting, it took him two minutes from at the moment the initial shot went out, and he continued shooting until the gun became neutralized and rescued by the Good Samaritan.”
The image alt=”Investigators at the scene of the murder.” src=”https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/07/640/320/Indianapolos-Crime-Scene.jpg?ve=1&tl=1″/>
The scene of the crime scene. (Facebook/@Ty J S)
The police chief stated that investigators are still trying to identify a motive. FBI Forensic investigators are looking through information from his phone that was soaked because the suspect “placed his phone inside the bathroom,” Ison said.
The police were also called to the residence of the suspect within the time frame after the shooting, and they arrived to discover the following “the oven was running” and that there was “a laptop inside the oven as well as a can of butane in the kitchen,” Ison said. The home also had an eviction notice in place in the home, he said.
The suspect was a student at Greenwood High School and was then employed, but been fired in May.
“Right now, we don’t have a reason,” Ison said. “His family members who we talked to were as shocked as the rest of us were. They claimed that there was no evidence that he had been violent.”
