2018 — Nov 7, Mass shooting (12) suicide, Borderline Bar & Grill, Thousand Oaks, CA– 13
— 13 Blanchard (Twelve shooting fatalities and the suicide of the shooter).
–12-13 CNN. “12 dead in California bar shooting.” 11-8-2018.[1]
–12-13 CNN. “Gunman who killed 12 at California bar identified as Ian David Long.” 11-8-2018.
Narrative Information
Nov 8: “(CNN) — A US Marines veteran opened fire at a Southern California bar late Wednesday, killing at least 12 before killing himself, and sending panicked survivors scrambling through doors and windows to escape, authorities said. Investigators believe Ian David Long, 28, used a legally purchased Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun with an extended magazine to shoot patrons, staff and a sheriff’s deputy at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, and they’re trying to figure out why he did it, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said Thursday morning….
“Among those killed was Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, who rushed in minutes after the first gunshots were reported at 11:20 p.m., Dean said. Helus had been at the department for nearly three decades and planned to retire within the next year, the sheriff said, choking back tears….
“The shooting broke out during the Western-style bar’s weekly line dancing and college night open to people 18 and older. People dropped to the floor and hid behind bar stools in stunned silence, witnesses said. Others jumped over chairs and broke windows to get out….
“About 21 others were injured, many trying to escape, the sheriff’s office said….
“The gunman apparently arrived at the bar Wednesday night in a car, and shot an unarmed security guard who was standing outside, Dean said. Long then stepped inside, and apparently shot other security workers and employees and opened fire farther inside the club, the sheriff said.
“Six off-duty law enforcement officers were in the bar when the shooting happened, Dean said. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to them. A woman whose daughter was at the bar has said one of those officers ‘stood in front of her daughter, protecting her life with his own,’…
“Witnesses described a man clothed in black and wearing glasses as he walked onto the dance floor filled with people and began shooting….
“The bar is near several universities, including California Lutheran, which canceled Thursday’s classes in response to the shooting. Pepperdine University said it believes “multiple Pepperdine students” also were there…
“Deputies were at Long’s home in the Newbury Park area of Thousand Oaks on Thursday morning, seeking to serve a search warrant, Dean said. Thousand Oaks is in Ventura County, about 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
“Long was in the US Marine Corps from August 2008 to March 2013, Defense Department records show. He subsequently was a student at California State University, Northridge, from 2013 to 2016, the school said. Long pursued a major in athletic training but did not graduate, the university’s Carmen Ramos Chandler said.
“Law enforcement had several previous contacts with Long, including in April when officers were called to a disturbance at his home, the sheriff said. ‘He was somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally,’ Dean said. Mental health specialists talked to him and didn’t feel he qualified to be detained under the state’s ‘5151’ mental health detention law…
“One of Long’s neighbors, Tom Hansen, told KABC that he had called police in April. ‘I don’t know exactly what he was doing — it was like he was banging on the walls and shouting,’ Hansen said. ‘It concerned me, so I called the police.’….
“Long also had been a victim of battery at a different Thousand Oaks bar in January 2015, the sheriff said.
“Long posted about his service with the Marines on an online forum called ShadowSpear in March 2017. He wrote he had been an infantry machine gunner, had served in Afghanistan and was an instructor in Okinawa, Japan.
“Helus, the slain sheriff’s deputy, arrived at the bar 3 minutes after 911 calls came in, along with two California Highway Patrol officers, Dean said. Helus went in because gunshots still were being fired — and he was shot multiple times…A Highway Patrol officer pulled Helus out and waited for reinforcements. When more officers arrived, they found the gunman dead inside, Dean said. Helus died at a hospital, police said. He is survived by a wife and a son….” (CNN (Faith Karimi, Jason Hanna, Joe Sutton). “Gunman who killed 12 at California bar identified as Ian David Long.” 11-8-2018.)
Nov 9: “…. Authorities say Ian Long, 28, fired a Glock .45-caliber handgun without a word as many patrons line-danced at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks around 11 p.m. (2 a.m. ET) Wednesday. He first shot a security guard and a woman working at the counter, but authorities say there was no indication he was targeting employees….
“Long’s friends say he was a frequent visitor at the bar for years and that he liked going there. ‘I would make fun of him, because he would drag me there. Sometimes we’d go there to have a drink, sit and talk, listen to music,’ said a woman who’s been friends with Long for five years and does not want her name made public.
“Authorities have identified a Facebook post believed to have been made by the shooter around the time of the attack, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the ongoing investigation.
“In it, the writer says: ‘I hope people call me insane… (laughing emojis)…wouldn’t that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah.. I’m insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is ‘hopes and prayers’.. or ‘keep you in my thoughts’… every time… and wonder why these keep happening…”….” (CNN (Nicole Chavez). “Thousand Oaks gunman went from Marine vet to mass shooter. Investigators want to know why.” 11-9-2018.
Nov 10: “Los Angeles — The ex-Marine who gunned down 12 people during a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night was apparently posting to social media either during or right before he carried out the attacks, law enforcement officials said. A decade before he stormed a popular Thousand Oaks bar armed with a handgun this week, Ian David Long’s propensity for rage was well known to some of his teachers.
“Evie Cluke, a former assistant track & field coach at Newbury Park High School, said the teenage Long was a volatile presence in the locker room and on the school’s grounds, prone to spasms of anger that often led to physical confrontations. Long sometimes traded punches with rival athletes at track meets, said Cluke, who also once witnessed him assault another female coach at the school. At the end of Long’s sophomore year, she said, he gathered classmates around his new pickup truck and showed off what appeared to be a handgun. ‘One of the students came running back and said he was showing them that he had a gun,’ Cluke recalled. Standing about 40 yards away, Cluke said, she could see Long holding a small, black object against his chest that resembled a pistol. By the time she alerted a supervisor, Long had driven off, she said. Confronted later, Long denied having a weapon and none of the students who had been near his truck would talk about it, she said. When Long explained why he was joining the Marines after graduation, Cluke only became more unnerved. She recalled him telling her: ‘I want to go and fight for my country and kill for my country.’ ‘A statement like that sticks in your brain when you know a kid has issues that need to be addressed,’ Cluke said….”
(Tribune News Service. “Social media, former teachers reveal alarming mind-set of ex-Marine who gunned down 12 people during a mass shooting.” Record Herald, Waynesboro, PA. 11-10-2018.)
Victims[2]
- Sean Adler, 48.
- Cody Coffman, 22.
- Blake Dingman, 21.
- Jake Dunham, 21.
- Ron Helus, 54 (Ventura County )
- Alaina Housley (Pepperdine University student)
- David Long, 28 (the shooter)
- Daniel Manrique, 33.
- Justin Meek, 23 (California Lutheran University recent graduate).
- Meza, Mark.
- Kristina Morisette (worked at the bar as a cashier).
- Telemachus Orfanos, 27 (had also been at Las Vegas concert shooting).
- Noel Sparks, 21.
Sources
ABC 7 News, Chicago (Marc Brown and Jory Rand). “Thousand Oaks shooting: 13 killed at Borderline Bar & Grill, including gunman, Ian David Long.” 11-9-2018. Accessed 11-9-2018 at: https://abc7.com/thousand-oaks-mass-shooting-13-dead-including-gunman/4644573/
ABC News (Kayna Whitworth, Karma Allen, Justin Doom, Emily Shapiro). “Thousand Oaks shooting: 12 dead including officer, suspect identified.” 11-9-2018.
CNN (Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Rob Picheta, Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner). “12 dead in California bar shooting.” 11-8-2018. Accessed 11-8-2018 at https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/california-shooting-intl/index.html
CNN (Faith Karimi, Jason Hanna, Joe Sutton). “Gunman who killed 12 at California bar identified as Ian David Long.” 11-8-2018. Accessed 11-8-2018 at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/us/thousands-oaks-california-bar-shooting/index.html
CNN (Nicole Chavez). “Thousand Oaks gunman went from Marine vet to mass shooter. Investigators want to know why.” 11-9-2018. Accessed 11-9-2018 at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/us/thousand-oaks-shooting/index.html
Tribune News Service. “Social media, former teachers reveal alarming mind-set of ex-Marine who gunned down 12 people during a mass shooting.” Record Herald, Waynesboro, PA. 11-10-2018. Accessed 11-10-2018 at: http://www.therecordherald.com/zz/news/20181110/what-thousand-oaks-gunman-said-in-online-posts
USA Today/Dalvin Brown). “‘Fact is I had to reason to do it’: Thousand Oaks gunman posted to Instagram during massacre.” 11-10-2018. Accessed 11-11-2018 at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/11/10/thousand-oaks-shooting-gunman-posted-instagram-during-bar-massacre/1958013002/
[1] Twelve people killed by shooter, who then shot and killed himself. (USA Today/Dalvin Brown). “‘Fact is I had to reason to do it’: Thousand Oaks gunman posted to Instagram during massacre.” 11-10-2018.)
[2] ABC 7 News, Chicago. “Thousand Oaks shooting: 13 killed at Borderline Bar & Grill, including gunman, Ias David Long.” 11-9-2018.