(La Porte County, IN) - A local official is praising a citizen for stopping a recent mass shooting in progress downstate.

 

Three people were killed and two others wounded last weekend before the citizen, 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, shot and killed the shooter at a shopping mall in Greenwood, which is near Indianapolis.

 

La Porte County Commissioner Joe Haney said Dicken realized he was his “own first responder.”

 

“Without the heroic actions of that young man, it would have been significantly, significantly worse,” Haney said.

Haney, a gun rights supporter, also gave thanks to the Indiana legislature for the state’s new constitutional permitless carry law.

 

The law enacted July 1st made it legal for Dicken to carry a concealed weapon and save lives. The law allows residents who can legally purchase and own a firearm to conceal and carry a gun outside the home without needing a permit.

 

According to authorities, the 20-year-old mass shooter fired 24 rounds from an AR-15-style rifle before being fatally shot by Dicken, who was shopping with his girlfriend at the time.

 

Reports indicate Dicken told his girlfriend to stay down and then started firing at the gunman. He also directed others behind him to leave as he moved closer to the mass shooter and gunned him down.