INDIANAPOLIS — July 17 marks one year since the Greenwood Park Mall mass shooting that left three dead before an armed bystander shot and killed the shooter.
The victims were 56-year-old Pedro Pineda, his wife, 37-year-old Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, and 30-year-old Victor Gomez.
Armed bystander Elisjsha Dicken was hailed a hero for quickly pulling his own gun and hitting the shooter from 40 yards away.
Police said the 20-year-old shooter had two rifles, a handgun and several magazines of ammunition, but he only used one of the rifles.
Police said the shooter entered the mall at 4:54 p.m. on July 17. He immediately entered the bathroom at the food court and stayed there for an hour and two minutes. His cellphone was found submerged in a toilet in the bathroom.
As the shooter left the bathroom, he began firing, causing chaos at the mall. Police said the shooter fired 24 rounds during the shooting.
The shooter first shot and killed Gomez. Then, he fired into the food court, hitting and killing the Pinedas. He fired more shots into the food court area and wounded a 22-year-old woman in the leg, and a bullet fragment hit a 12-year-old girl in the back.
Dicken then began firing at the shooter as the shooter tried to retreat back into the bathroom but collapsed and died.
Investigation into the gunman
Police said the shooter was born in Columbus, Indiana, and lived there until his parents split when he was 5 years old. The shooter went with his mother to Florida, and at times, he was homeless. He had numerous juvenile disciplinary issues and had been in and out of the foster system six times.
"When he was in the DCS system, he did seek counseling quite often and in the school system," said a member of the FBI.
At the age of 17, he moved in with his brother in an apartment complex in Greenwood. He lived in the Polo Run Apartments from 2018 to 2022.
He quit his job in May 2022, and his brother removed his name from the lease with the shooter. The shooter's father then cut off financial support, and days before the mass shooting, the shooter received notice he was being evicted.
Police said the shooter used Reddit most often and made more than 700 comments on posts about mass shootings. His comments were more about debating and discussing the incidents and the tactics.
In December 2019, the FBI received a tip about someone taking a disturbing interest in mass shootings in online forums. The FBI tracked the posts to the Polo Run Apartments in Greenwood but could not identify a specific person as it was on the apartments' public Wi-Fi. With no criminal activity, the case was closed in March 2020.
Police interviewed friends and family about the shooter and searched several properties.
Police said during an interview with a friend of the shooter, that friend said the shooter was anti-social and had a strong interest in guns and drugs.
Police talked to an ex-girlfriend of the shooter, and she told them they broke up 18 months before. She told them she was not surprised at all he was behind the mass shooting at the mall. Police said she told them the shooter was abusive and stuck a gun in her mouth during an argument. She said he had made comments that he didn't belong in this world, would be dead by 20 and that if he took his own life, he would take others with him. She told police the shooter was racist toward Black and Hispanic people.
Police said before leaving the mall bathroom, the shooter searched for the ex-girlfriend on Instagram. One of his last calls was to his brother about the eviction.
Police said there is no clear reason or motive for the shooting or the location chosen. Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said the shooter left no note or manifesto on his motivation. Police also said there is no definitive proof those killed were targeted due to race or just because of close proximity as he exited the bathroom.
Police said information could not be recovered from the shooter's computer hard drive, which was found in the oven at his apartment, because it was too severely damaged.
In December, police said they were still trying to access information from the shooter's cellphone, which was found in a toilet at the Greenwood Park Mall. They did access cellphone and text message records, as well as search history.
"I don't think we anticipate finding much on the cellphone. It is a newer cellphone. We did subpoena his cellphone, so we have his call logs, texts, search records. What we don't have are pictures and videos he may have," Ison said. "When someone makes up their mind to do something evil like this, there is not a lot you can do to stop it."
In May 2023, the FBI was able to unlock the shooter's phone and analyze 206 videos and 3,458 images. Also recovered were notes, call and text logs, and internet searches.
They found pictures of Adolf Hitler, Nazi propaganda and firearms. Man of the videos were of mass killings and "extremely graphic in nature." One of the videos was of the Cascade Mall shooting in Burlington, Washington, in 2016.
There was also an image of a handwritten note from April 9, 2022, that appears to be a suicide note, where he claims to have been struggling with mental illness.
There was also a note from June 18 that appeared intended for his brother that talked about him committing suicide, and there was a search for committing suicide.
There was nothing on the phone about the Greenwood Park Mall or plans for the July 17, 2022, mass shooting.
Police said there was no known communication about the planning of the shooting online or to friends or family.
"I don't believe he had plans to survive. There was a 4chan post that was circulating on social media that was taken about an hour before he went to the mall where the weapons that he used and the attire that we found him in with the chest rig and all of that, he had a gun to the back of his head: 'Name is Jonathan, and it's a good day to die,'" Ison shared.
Police said the only record of violence with the shooter prior to July 17 was he was in a fight at school, he had been caught with a knife at school and he was stopped for having drugs.
Armed bystander hailed as hero
Within 15 seconds from when the shooting began, Dicken fired 10 rounds, hitting the shooter as the shooter tried to retreat into the bathroom but collapsed and died.
An autopsy found the shooter was shot eight times, and none were self-inflicted.
Dicken's attorney, Guy Relford, said 22-year-old Dicken was simply having a meal with girlfriend at the mall.
"His first thought was simply I need to protect people. I need to stop this person from hurting people," Relford said.
Dicken had no police training or military background, according to police. He had a license to carry a handgun, which was issued Aug. 4, 2021. However, Dicken did not need the license because "constitutional or permitless carry" became law in Indiana on July 1, 2022.
Timeline of events
13 Investigates has compiled a timeline of events for the mass shooting inside Greenwood Park Mall based on reports from Greenwood police and radio traffic from Johnson County emergency services agencies.
4:54 p.m. – The shooter entered the mall and went straight to a bathroom near the food court, according to Greenwood Police.
5:56:48 p.m. – The shooter emerged from the restroom and began shooting, killing three people and injuring several others, Greenwood Police report.
5:56 p.m. – Johnson County emergency dispatchers begin receiving phone calls from mall patrons and workers. “They’re advising there’s a male shooter. He’s possibly in the food court at this time. More than a dozen people,” the dispatcher reported.
5:56 p.m. – A police officer reports seeing people running out into the mall parking lot.
5:57 p.m. – An ambulance and other emergency response vehicles were dispatched to the mall.
5:57:03 p.m. – An armed mall patron engages the shooter by returning gunfire. Just 15 seconds after the shooting began, police say the shooter was killed. (Police would not learn the shooter was dead for several more minutes.)
5:57 p.m. – Dispatchers report receiving additional 911 calls about the shooting, including a description of a weapon. “We’re getting several calls from Johnson County. Possible active shooter at the Greenwood Park Mall. Several subjects. Possible AK-47,” said the dispatcher.
5:58 p.m. – Dispatchers share more information, including how many victims EMS crews might find inside the mall. “So far, possibly three. We’re still, our phone lines are still all lit up. We’re still just trying to gather information. They’re not hearing shots at this time. They’re possibly by the food court. So far, we’ve got at least three,” a dispatcher told EMS crews. A supervisor responds, “OK, give me three more ambulances,” and more paramedics and emergency vehicles are dispatched.
6:01 p.m. – Still unaware if a shooter is at large, emergency medical crews establish a command post and staging area in the parking lot, outside Von Maur and Dicks Sporting Goods.
6:06 p.m. – Based on confirmation from police, EMS declares the scene a “mass casualty” situation.
6:07 p.m. – Paramedics wait for police protection to enter mall food court area. “Ok, we’re not going in until we have police escorts, so just stage here,” a supervisor says, directing EMS crews to the parking lot staging area.
6:08 p.m. – EMS crews enter the building with a police SWAT team and establish a triage location outside the corridor to the mall food court.
6:14 p.m. – EMS reports three people are being transported to area hospitals and two victims were found to be dead on arrival. Another victim, who suffered head wounds while fleeing the shooting, is located outside the mall.
6:15 p.m. – EMS reports “all the patients in our immediate vicinity have been either tagged DOA or they’re now being transported.” They also report on the condition of the shooter. “We had a pulse. Now we don’t, but they’re going to go ahead and work him and transport him.”
6:17 p.m. – EMS crews are warned about a suspicious backpack found in the same mall bathroom where the shooter prepared to commit his crime. “Police are advising a backpack in the back bathroom, possibly a bomb. We’re going to evacuate the area,” a dispatcher announces.
6:18 p.m. – Police actively search all corridors in the mall, locating remaining civilians in the building and escorting them out while police determine if the backpack in the food court restroom contains any explosives.
The above timeline is based on police and first responder information.