“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin last week downplayed the heroic efforts of a 22-year-old man with a gun who stopped a mass shooting at an Indiana mall earlier this month, saving countless lives.
Elisjsha Dicken was at the mall with his girlfriend when he noticed a man firing at civilians. Reports say he reacted within 15 seconds of the attacker’s first shot, using his 9-millimeter Glock handgun to fire off at least ten rounds and kill the shooter.
Hostin described Dicken’s actions as “lucky” and noted that he had a gun at the mall in the first place, even though the shopping center has a no-gun policy.
“With that ‘Good Samaritan’ thing — listen, I was trained when I was at the Justice Department in firearms,” Hostin told the audience, NewsBusters reported. “And I was trained in defensive firearm training. It’s very hard to hit a moving target. It’s hard for people that are trained to hit a moving target. It is very lucky that that Good Samaritan hit that moving target in that way.”
“And he had a gun permit, but he wasn’t supposed to be in the mall with a gun,” the co-host complained. “So he broke the law even though he was a Good Samaritan.”
The hero who stopped the mass shooting did not need a permit per an Indiana law that took effect on July 1, just days before Dicken’s lifesaving action. But, according to his lawyer, Dicken did indeed have permit for the gun.
Moreover, Dicken’s attorney Guy Relford has disputed Hostin’s claim that the Greenwood Park Mall’s no-gun policy creates legal challenges for his client.
“It certainly has no effect whatsoever on his ability to use force to defend himself or to defend the other people in the mall,” Relford said, IndyStar reported. “He checks all those boxes as perfectly as he possibly could.”
The attorney explained that if Dicken carried the gun into the mall and was asked to leave for doing so but did not leave, he could be charged with trespassing. Of course, that never happened, and the mall has already praised Dicken.
Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison, too, seems to disagree with Hostin.
“I will say his actions were nothing short of heroic,” the chief said of Dicken.
“He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, was very proficient in that, very tactically sound, and as he moved to close in on the suspect he was also motioning for people to exit behind him,” Ison explained.
This post has been updated with additional information
Related: What We Know About The Heroic 22-Year-Old Man Who Stopped A Mass Shooting In Indiana