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Thousand Oaks shooting: gunman kills 12 at California western bar Thousand Oaks shooting: gunman kills 12 at California western bar
(about 2 hours later)
Twelve people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a crowded bar in southern California, police said on Thursday morning. Twelve people have been killed in southern California after a gunman opened fire in a crowded bar.
A sheriff’s deputy is among the dead, the Ventura county sheriff’s department said. The gunman was found dead inside the bar. Officials identified the gunman as former US marine Ian David Long, 28. Long was found dead inside the bar, the Ventura county sheriff Geoff Dean said. Authorities believe he shot and killed himself.
Hundreds of people were at the Borderline Bar and Grill, in Thousand Oaks, near Los Angeles, on Wednesday night when the shooter entered and opened fire. Witnesses reported using barstools to break windows in a desperate attempt to escape, and the Ventura county sheriff, Geoff Dean, described a traumatic scene. A sheriff’s deputy, Sergeant Ron Helus, was among the victims, the Ventura county sheriff’s department said. As many as 16 people were injured.
“It’s a horrific scene in there,” Dean said at a news conference in the parking lot of the Borderline Bar & Grill. “There’s blood everywhere.” Hundreds of people were at the Borderline Bar and Grill, in Thousand Oaks, near Los Angeles, on Wednesday night when the shooter entered and opened fire. Witnesses reported using barstools to break windows in a desperate attempt to escape. Sheriff Dean described a traumatic scene.
Dean said officers had not yet determined whether the gunman took his own life. “It’s a horrific scene in there,” Dean said. “There’s blood everywhere.”
The Associated Press reported that the gunman was 29 years old. Authorities have identified the man, AP said, but he is yet to be named publicly. The shooter used a .45-caliber handgun and deployed smoke devices inside the bar, a law enforcement official, who requested anonymity, said. Dean said a mental health crisis team had been called to Long’s home in April after he was found to be acting “irate” and “a little irrationally”. He was not taken into custody at that time.
Donald Trump tweeted that he had been “fully briefed” on the shooting, and praised the “great bravery shown by police”. The Thousand Oaks shooting comes 11 days after after 11 people were shot and killed at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dean said Long used a legally purchased .45 caliber Glock during the shooting. Long was a veteran who had served in the United States Marine Corps from 2008 to 2013.
The shooter entered the country and western bar, which was holding a “College Country Night”, dressed in all black with his face partly covered, witnesses told TV crews at the scene. Donald Trump tweeted that he had been “fully briefed” on the shooting, and praised the “great bravery shown by police”. The Thousand Oaks shooting comes 11 days after after 11 people were shot and killed at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The man who was described as tall, with his head covered with a hood, first fired at a person working on the door of the Borderline before shooting people inside. Long, wearing a black sweatshirt, shot a security guard who was standing outside the Borderline before entering and shooting several other employees of the bar, Dean said.
Dean said sheriffs responded to 911 calls at about 11.20pm. Sheriff’s Sergeant Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran of the force, entered the bar with a highway patrolman after hearing gunshots. Dean said Helus was shot several times before being pulled out of the bar by the highway patrolman, who has not been named, and taken to a nearby hospital. He said Long had no connection to the Borderline bar, and authorities had been unable to find a motive. Long was “the victim of a battery” at a different bar in Thousand Oaks in January 2015, Dean said. Long also had two minor traffic citations in recent years.
Helus, who had planned to retire in the next year, died early on Thursday morning, Dean said. Sheriffs responded to 911 calls at about 11.20pm. Sgt Helus, a 29-year veteran of the force, entered the bar with a highway patrolman and “immediately exchanged gunfire with the suspect”, Dean said.
Helus was shot several times before being pulled out of the bar by the highway patrolman, who has not been named, and taken to a nearby hospital.
“There’s no doubt that they saved lives by going in there and engaging with the suspect,” Dean said. “It could have been much, much worse.”
Helus, who had planned to retire in the next year, died early on Thursday morning. Sheriffs were planning a procession to transport Helus’s body from Los Robles hospital in Thousand Oaks to the examiner’s office in Ventura at 10am local time.
“It saddens us all and tears at our emotions. He died a hero. He went in to save lives, to save other people,” Dean said.“It saddens us all and tears at our emotions. He died a hero. He went in to save lives, to save other people,” Dean said.
Witnesses described a scene of sheer panic inside the packed nightclub. They described an opening volley of shots and then a pause, during which club-goers scrambled to escape, throwing bar stools through windows and running through the kitchen to get out. Witnesses described a scene of panic inside the packed bar.
Teylor Whittler, who was at the club, said after club goers heard shots “within a split second everyone yelled ‘get down’. Teylor Whittler said after bar-goers heard shots, “within a split second, everyone yelled, ‘Get down’”.
“I ran to the left of the dance floor and got down and everyone piled on top of each other,” she told CNN. She said: “I ran to the left of the dance floor and got down and everyone piled on top of each other. It was silent for a couple of seconds and a couple of guys ran towards the back of the club and said, ‘Get up, he’s coming’. I stumbled and a guy grabbed me, pulled me up and said, ‘Let’s go’. A bar stool hit me in the head as someone was throwing it at a window.”
“It was silent for a couple of seconds and a couple of guys ran towards the back of the club and said ‘get up, he’s coming’. As many as 16 people were injured in the frantic effort to escape, Dean said. One of those may have suffered a gunshot wound.
“I stumbled and a guy grabbed me, pulled me up and said ‘let’s go’. A bar stool hit me in the head as someone was throwing it at a window.” The Borderline holds a College Country Night on Wednesdays, according to its website. The event runs from 9pm to 2am and people aged 18 and over are able to attend – the drinking age is 21 in California.
The LA Times reported that 10 other people may have been injured in the bar.
The Borderline holds a “College Country Night” on Wednesdays, according to its website. The event runs from 9pm to 2am and people aged 18 and over are able to attend – the drinking age is 21 in California.
Pepperdine University, a private college about 20 miles south-west of Borderline, said “multiple” students were at the bar.Pepperdine University, a private college about 20 miles south-west of Borderline, said “multiple” students were at the bar.
“The University is working to identify and provide support to those students,” Pepperdine University said on Twitter. It said staff were working to identify the students. “The university is working to identify and provide support to those students,” Pepperdine said on Twitter. “The University offers its deepest condolences and is praying for everyone involved in tonight’s tragic events.”
“The University offers its deepest condolences and is praying for everyone involved in tonight’s tragic events.”
Some tearful reunions among those presumably (though unconfirmed) at Borderline or who knew them at Borderline. #Borderline #BorderlineShooting #ThousandOaksShooting @vcstar pic.twitter.com/0Ik19qFyGa
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