GREENWOOD, Ind. — Shoppers headed into the Greenwood Park Mall right when it opened at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, two days after a local gunman walked through the same doors with three guns in a bag.
People entering at the food court entrance saw a memorial with teddy bears and flowers for the three people killed Sunday.
What was the atmosphere in the mall Tuesday?
“Normal," said one male shopper.
"Seemed the same,” said a mother. “No big change.”
She admitted the shooting was on her mind as she walked into the mall.
“But we had to make school shopping, so we had to go,” she said.
It was a calm contrast to the chaos of just two days ago. The food court served lunch where the shooter, who had entered at 4:54 p.m., walked out of a restroom and opened fire Sunday just before 6:00 p.m.
"I'm not quite ready to go in the mall just yet,” said a woman exiting the mall parking lot. We were actually at the mall just a couple hours before the shooting happened. We left at about four o'clock. So we had just left, my husband, myself, and our two daughters.”
Greenwood Police now say the shooting was over in 15 seconds, thanks to an armed bystander. 22-year-old Eli Dicken from Seymour was carrying a handgun and took 10 shots, hitting the suspect eight times and killing him.
"I feel sorry for the guy that shot the guy,” said one male shopper. “I mean, he's got to live with that the rest of his life.”
"People always say I never thought it could happen here,” said a woman. “It would never happen here. But I'm so proud of the law enforcement, the first responders, and of course, Eli Dicken. He is an absolute hero. You know, if it hadn't been for him, it would have been far worse."
13News tried to contact all of the eateries in the food court by phone. A few people we reached said they were working Sunday night at the time of the shooting. They didn't want to give a recorded interview, but they described taking cover and running to the back of their stores. They were understandably on edge going back to work Tuesday.
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