GREENWOOD, Ind. — When gunfire erupted inside the Greenwood Park Mall July 17, 2022, everyone who was in the food court was forever changed.
That includes Diane Paul's grandsons Joe and Mac, who were 12 and 14 at the time.
Paul attended Tuesday's news conference about the gunman and has been following developments closely ever since her grandsons' survival.
"That day they were dropped off at the mall for the first time ever without their mom and they were in the Blondie's Cookie line with Eli Dicken by their side," Paul said.
The boys survived when Dicken, an armed bystander, took aim and took out the shooter.
"That's all I would tell him is, 'Thank you for saving my grandsons' lives,'" Paul said.
But in the seconds before they were saved, three lives were lost.
Police say Victor Gomez and husband and wife Pedro and Rosa Pineda were the first people the shooter encountered when he left the bathroom and entered the food court.
Police on Tuesday also said, despite what they learned about the gunman, they still do not have a clear motive.
Friends and family are still struggling with the loss.
Carlos Iraheta was friends with the Pinedas in Indianapolis.
"There's no answers for what the questions that we have," he said following the news conference.
Natives of El Salvador, the Pinedas leave behind eight children and several grandchildren.
The holidays have been especially difficult.
"They were good people. They were family," Iraheta said. "I mean right at this time, it's kind of hard to imagine the family, how devastated they'd be remembering all those good Christmas times they spent together."
Iraheta said the couple was always quick to respond to a neighbor in need.
And he watched this summer, as the Indianapolis community responded to a food fundraiser to help lay the couple to rest.
Thousands of people attended and raised thousands of dollars for the families.
"Isn't that amazing? What people, what we as a humanity can do, when we try to do something good," Iraheta said.
Now, friends say the best way to honor these victims is to keep that up: continue to pray for the family members' peace, give back to others like they did and hold our own loved ones close.
"Spend time with family," Iraheta said. "You know, enjoy the time you can with your children and your wife, your spouse. That's the best thing you can do in life."