One Armed Man at an Indiana Mall Offered Better Protection Than 376 Cops in Uvalde

The same day Texas legislators released a devastating report on indecision and failure among hundreds of police officers during the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a single armed man ended an attack at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana. It’s impossible to avoid comparing the two incidents. Once again, taking responsibility for yourself and assisting others turns out to be a better idea than putting faith in the state.

“Greenwood leaders have used several titles to describe Elisjsha Dicken, the 22-year-old Indiana man who intervened in a mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday night,” write Ryan Martin, Tony Cook, and Dayeon Eom of the Indianapolis Star. “A hero. A good Samaritan, even. Gun-rights advocates have yet another: A good guy with a gun.”

Assessments of the performance of 376 police officers at Robb Elementary School are less positive.

“At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety,” according to the July 17 report from Texas legislators. “The first wave of responders to arrive included the chief of the school district police and the commander of the Uvalde Police Department SWAT team. Despite the immediate presence of local law enforcement leaders, there was an unacceptably long period of time before officers breached the classroom, neutralized the attacker, and began rescue efforts.”

Dicken intervened within two minutes of the first shot by the 20-year-old murderer. Three innocent people still lost their lives, but the toll could have been much higher.

“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began,” Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison told reporters.

By contrast, police officers in Uvalde dithered for at least 73 minutes as 19 children and two teachers were murdered.

“The law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary on May 24 was an abject failure,” commented Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw. 

While the report on the Robb Elementary attack emphasized that “Uvalde CISD and its police department failed to implement their active shooter plan and failed to exercise command and control of law enforcement responding to the tragedy,” in Indiana, Dicken had no special background. “Police said Dicken learned to shoot from his grandfather and that he had no military or police training,” reports WTHR.

Dicken legally carried a pistol without a permit under a “constitutional carry” law that took effect July 1. Technically, he violated the mall’s no-weapons policy, but the owners don’t seem bothered. They have a statement on their website saying, in part: “We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect.”

The Indiana man was not the first armed regular person to stop a crime. In May, a woman shot a man who opened fire on a crowd in Charleston, West Virginia. 

“Instead of running from the threat, she engaged with the threat and saved several lives last night,” Charleston Police Department Chief of Detectives Tony Hazelett