Greenwood officials identify shooter, victims, and armed civilian in Sunday’s mass shooting

Updated at 8:28 p.m. on July 19 - last updated with new information from the Greenwod Police Department about the incident timeline. 

Greenwood city officials have identified the shooter, victims, and the armed civilian involved in Sunday’s mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall.

The Johnson County Coroner identified the shooting victims as Pedro Pineda, 56, of Indianapolis; his wife, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37; and Victor Gomez, 30, of Indianapolis. A 22-year-old woman and a 12-year old girl were injured. Their identities were not released.

The shooting suspect is Jonathan Sapirman of Greenwood. He was also pronounced dead at the scene Sunday. Police said the 20-year-old had a juvenile record but no criminal history as an adult.

Timeline

Surveilance video shows Sapirman entered the mall at 4:54 p.m. and went straight to the restroom, where he remained for an hour before exiting to fire the first shots from a Sig Sauer M400 rifle. Police aren't sure why he spent so much time there but said they believe he was preparing himself for the shooting. They said he had two more guns and multiple magazines with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. 

At 5:56, he exited the restroom and began shooting. He shot for 15 seconds [previously reported by the police as 2 minutes] before he was shot and killed by armed civilian Elisjsha Dicken of Seymour, Indiana. Ison said investigators could not find Dicken's gun permit. But he was legally carrying his handgun under Indiana’s new constitutional carry law.

READ MORE: WHAT INDIANA'S PERMITLESS HANDGUN CARRY LAW DOES AND DOESN'T DO

Ison called his actions “nothing but heroic,” noting that as far as investigators know Dicken has no police or military training.

“We’re very thankful for a young 22-year-old man who stopped this violent act,” Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said. “This young man, Greenwood’s good Samaritan, acted within seconds, stopping the shooter and saving countless lives.”

Investigators recovered 24 rounds fired from the M400 riffle and 10 rounds from Dicken's handgun.

Motive

Investigators have not determined a motive for the shooting. Ison said there was no evidence as of Monday to suggest the victims were targeted in any way. And those who knew Sapirman said there was no indication that he was planning the attack.

"Family members that we spoke to, they were just as suprprised as everyone else," Ison said. "They said there were no indicators that he was violent or unstable."

The FBI recovered a cell phone and a laptop that Sapirman attempted to destroy. Investigators are still working to access information on the devices. The phone was found submerged in a toilet at the mall. The laptop and a can of butane were found in an oven set to a high temperature at Sapirman's apartment.  

The shooting in Greenwood, a city south of Indianapolis with a population of just over 60,000, was the first of two in Central Indiana Sunday evening. A few hours later, one person was killed, and three injured during a shooting in nearby Beech Grove. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group, has verified 57 mass shootings across the United States during this month alone.

“I’ll not be able to say anything that has not already been said by so many other sites of these mass shootings here in America,” Myers said. “I don’t want to be among the mayors that has to share these statements, but sadly I am.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mispelled the names of Pedro Pineda and his wife Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda.

On July 19 the Greenwod Police Department corrected the timeline of the shooting. The gunman fired his weapon for 15 seconds before being shot by the armed civilian. It was previously reported that the shooting lasted two minutes . 

Contact reporter Ben Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org.
WFYI's Doug Jaggers contributed to this report.