Make wishtv.com your home page

Preview: Parent of Greenwood Park Mall shooting survivor speaks to I-Team 8

GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — Sam Stewart III says his youngest daughter still remembers the smell of blood in the air after a 20-year-old shooter opened fire in the food court at the Greenwood Park Mall.

Stewart and his family were at the mall on July 17, 2022, when Jonathan Sapirman shot and killed 30-year-old Victor Gomez, 56-year-old Pedro Pindea, and 37-year-old Rosa Pineda. Sapirman was shot and killed at the scene by Elisjsha Dicken, a customer at the mall.

On Tuesday, Stewart and his family, including his oldest daughter, Kaya Stewart, filed suit against Indianapolis-based mall owner Simon Property Group and the mall’s security agency, California-based Allied Universal Event Services.

According to the lawsuit, “Kaya Stewart was shot multiple times, incapacitated, and sustained life-threatening injuries.”

Kaya Stewart, her juvenile sister, her mother, and Samuel Stewart III are seeking an undisclosed amount of compensation for “past and future economic damages.”

The lawsuit cites several failings of the mall and its security firm, including a lack of adequate security personnel training; poor monitoring of parking lots, restrooms, and the food court; and inadequate emergency plans.

Sam Stewart III joined I-Team 8’s Kody Fisher on Wednesday for an exclusive interview.

Tune in to News 8 at 5 and 6 p.m. to hear Stewart discuss the lawsuit and describe the horrors his family has been reliving each day since the shooting.