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A bystander’s decision to shoot a man who opened fire at an Indiana mall was a rare occurrence of someone stepping in to try to prevent multiple casualties before police could arrive, Associated Press reported.

Police on Monday praised the quick actions of 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, an armed shopper who killed 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman after Sapirman killed three people and wounded two others at a mall in the Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood.

“Many more people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen,” police Chief Jim Ison said Monday, repeatedly calling Dicken a “good Samaritan” and his response “heroic.”

It isn’t common for mass shootings to be stopped in such fashion. From 2000 to 2021, fewer than 3% of 433 active attacks in the U.S. ended with a civilian firing back, according to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University. The researchers define the attacks as one or more people targeting multiple people.

It was far more common for police or bystanders to subdue the attacker or for police to kill the person, according to the center’s national data, which were recently cited by The New York Times.

In a quarter of the shootings, the attacker stopped by leaving the area, similar to what happened during the July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, where seven people were killed, according to Associated Press.

“There’s been this statement: ‘The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’ That’s factually inaccurate because of the word ‘only,’” said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice expert at the University of Alabama who has written books and research papers about mass shootings.

Nonetheless, gun-rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, used that phrase on social media to draw attention to what happened in Indiana. 

Since July 1, Indiana has allowed anyone 18 or older to carry a handgun in public, though private property owners can prohibit firearms. The Greenwood mall has a ban on weapons, according to its conduct code.

Gun Owners of America hopes the mall reconsiders, saying gun-free zones create a false sense of security.

The Greenwood Park Mall, which is owned by Simon Property Group, didn’t reply to a request for comment but released a statement commending first responders and the “heroic actions of the good Samaritan who stopped the suspect.”

Lankford believes it would be a mistake to think armed civilians can be relied upon to regularly stop mass shootings.

“While it’s certainly a good thing in this mall shooting that someone was able to stop it before it went any further, let’s not think we can substitute that outcome in all past and future incidents,” Lankford said. “If everyone’s carrying a firearm, the risk that something bad happens just gets much larger.”

There have been other examples of armed people defending large groups. In May, a woman fatally shot a man in Charleston, West Virginia, after he fired an AR-15-style rifle into a crowd at an outdoor party. She was praised by police, not charged.

In 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley crashed his car and killed himself after bystanders, including one who was armed, chased him after he massacred 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Associated Press reported.

National Assembly members have demanded management of waste in Kathmandu valley soon.

In a session of the Upper House today, CPN (Unified Socialist)'s Gomadevi Timilsina said, "The streets in Kathmandu have turned almost unwalkable due to piles of waste."

The report of the outbreak of cholera is creating panic. When will Kathmandu folks be free from the constant struggle for waste management," she questioned.

She advised that the government could use a machine manufactured in Hetauda to segregate waste.

Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal's Pramila Kumari said the provision of inclusion guaranteed by the constitution was yet to be brought into practice.

Shekhar Kumar Singh of Loktantrik Samajbadi Party urged the House not to delay endorsement of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Dil Kumari Rawal of the CPN- UML accused the government of not being serious about people's issues and urged political leaders to rise above personal and partisan interests.

CPN-Maoist Centre's Suresh Alemagar drew the government's attention to the problems facing Nepalis in the British Gurkha force.

CPN (Unified Socialist)'s Rajendra Laxmi Gaire asked the government to monitor the market to control skyrocketing prices, while CPN-Maoist Centre's Nar Bahadur demanded investigation into the rumour that 'M Adhikari' and Nepal Rastra Bank's governor Maha Prasad Adhikari are the same person.

Anita Devkota demanded a proper space for women in the upcoming election.

The Media Action Nepal said that only 0.30 percent of the news stories published in Nepali media had bylines of female journalists.

Out of 21,919 news items published in 20 media outlets, only 76 had bylines of female journalists, read a report published by the Media Action Nepal on Monday.

Aimed at measuring the level of gender sensitivity and determining how much and what kind of news content about women and people with different sexual orientations are published in Nepali media, the Media Action Nepal assessed a total of 23,515 media contents published by a total of 20 media outlets.

Out of the total number of media materials published in those media over the period of two months, only 388 or 1.67 percent news stories are about women and people belonging to different sexual orientations.

Of those 388 about women and people with different sexual orientations, 386 are on women’s issues and only two about sexual minorities.

The reported stated that Nepali media give less priority to issues of women and people with different sexual orientations.

A high-tech equipment is to be installed at Nagdhunga – the main entrance to Kathmandu Valley – for scanning and keeping records of the vehicles.

Currently traffic police are daily maintaining hand-written log of the incoming and outgoing vehicles to and from Kathmandu Valley. The traffic police has also been screening suspected vehicles and passengers on ad hoc basis at the main checkpoint.

As informed, Chandragiri municipality has intensified its preparation to place vehicle scanning machine at the main entry point to the federal capital for the first time.

In this connection, the municipality had held dialogue with key stakeholders including high-placed officials of Nepal Police and Department of Roads in the first phase.

'It has become essential to place vehicle scanning machine at Nagdhunga from security perspective of Kathmandu Valley', shared Chandragiri mayor Ghanashyam Giri, adding how long traffic police maintain log in a paper in the present digital age.

The machine can be used to scan person(s) along with vehicles and keep their records as per the need. It is expected to help maintain law and order and also reduce traffic management burden.

The scanning machine costs around Rs 25 million. He informed that the municipality has solicited collaboration with other municipalities of the Valley and concerned stakeholders for machine purchase.

'This is not only necessary for Chandragiri. This will help all municipalities in the Valley and federal government as well. It is expected to ensure smooth traffic management and safety', Mayor Giri further said.