Girlfriend of heroic armed citizen recounted to her grandmother how he saved her and ended Indiana mall shooting

The girlfriend of the armed citizen hailed as hero recounted to her grandmother how he saved her life and ended the Indiana mall shooting.

WTHR-TV interviewed the grandmother of Shay Goldman, the 19-year-old girlfriend of 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, who was credited with taking down the murderous shooter on Sunday.

"I just know when I got the phone call that she was at the mall, I was scared," said the woman, who wanted her identity kept private.

"She says, 'Grandma I'm OK, but I'm terrified,' and then she says, 'Grandma, what is the world coming to?' And she says, 'I don't think I'll ever step foot in a mall again,'" the woman added.

She said Goldman told her that Dicken pushed her out of the way when the shooting started and told her to stay down.

Goldman also said that she had spotted the gunman near the bathrooms before he started shooting.

"She said she had that sick feeling like look behind her or beside her, and he (the mall shooter) was walking out behind her. And she said, 'Grandma, I seen a long gun.' And then all of a sudden, Eli told her 'get down' and pushed her, and she said it went from there," the woman explained.

Goldman said she hid behind a kiosk as her boyfriend shot at the attacker.

Police said the attacker tried to retreat back to the bathroom under the gunfire, but he fell and died before being able to take cover.

"His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun. Was very proficient in that, was tactically sound and as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him," said Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison.

"Many people would have died last night, if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of this shooting," he added.

Police later identified the killer as 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman. He was able to shoot five people, killing three, before Dicken took him out.

While some on the left tried to falsely accuse Dicken of breaking the law, police said he was legally allowed to carry his firearm due to the recently passed "Constitutional Carry" gun rights law in Indiana.

Goldman's grandmother asked the public to pray for Dicken because "to take somebody's life is hard."

She added, "Just please, let's pray for them. That's what we need is to pray. And pray for this world!"

Here's more about the mass shooting:

Greenwood Park Mall shooting timelinewww.youtube.com