Media report reminds us armed good Samaritan who stopped Indiana shooter 'broke mall rules'

Doug P. | 1:43 PM on July 18, 2022

A shooting at a mall in Indiana could have been much worse if not for an armed good samaritan who took down the gunman almost immediately:

In a Greenwood, Indiana, mall — roughly 15 miles south of Indianapolis — a man armed with a rifle opened fire on Sunday evening in the food court, fatally shooting three individuals and wounding two others. But then, “a good Samaritan with a handgun,” according to Greenwood police Chief James Ison, put the shooter down.

The bystander, identified as a 22-year-old who was in the food court when the shooting started, “was able to stop this shooter almost as soon as he began.” Ison added. “The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court,” he said at a press conference.

You just knew somebody in the media would come up with a doozy of an angle:

What a bizarre headline here. Does anyone care that "mall rules" were "broken" by the man who took down the mass shooter? https://t.co/iLHYnqEMpY pic.twitter.com/HDIzKaxiw5

— Sister Toldjah 🌻 (@sistertoldjah) July 18, 2022

They’re making a point here but not the one they think:

Police say the 22-year-old from Bartholomew County had a legal gun permit. However, according to mall policy, the man should not have been carrying his handgun in the mall in the first place.

The Simon Property Group, which owns the mall, states in its code of conduct that no weapons are allowed at their shopping centers. The policy was last updated in April 2020.

“According to mall policy, the man should not have been carrying his handgun in the mall in the first place.”