UPDATE (6:15 p.m.) – Cliff Housego and Kathy Neufeld arrived at a vigil after the deadly California bar shooting in cowboy hats and denim jackets emblazoned with the logo of the Borderline Bar & Grill, where the attack occurred.
Housego is a longtime disc jockey at the bar and has taught line dancing there for 25 years.
He didn’t work Wednesday night, when the shooting happened, and was awakened Thursday by his son banging on his door with the horrific news.
He said he loves seeing “the beautiful young people smiling from ear to ear” as they dance at the bar and felt compelled to attend the vigil to be part of the community.
The theater that hosted the vigil was full and hundreds of people gathered on a lawn outside, softly singing or holding hands in silence.
UPDATE (6 p.m.) – A longtime friend says a security guard at a country music bar in California died doing what he was passionate about – protecting people.
Debbie Allen says she knew Sean Adler for 30 years and he would stay late at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks to ensure people could get home safely.
He was one of 12 people killed in the shooting there Wednesday night.
Allen says the 48-year-old married father of two boys had “a very, very big personality and had a very, very gorgeous smile.”
UPDATE (5:50 p.m.) – One victim of the shooting at a country music bar in California was a U.S. Navy veteran with a thick beard, easy smile and a gladiator helmet tattoo.
Friends called Telemachus Orfanos “Tel.” His mother, Susan Schmidt-Orfanos, said Thursday that she wanted gun control, her voice shaking with grief and rage.
She says she wants Congress to “pass gun control so no one else has a child that doesn’t come home.”
Photos on the Facebook page of the 27-year-old Orfanos show the former Eagle Scout with friends at ballgames or at work.
Some photos are embellished with patriotic graphics and another marks the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
UPDATE (4:45 p.m.) – Julie Hanson, who lives with her husband next door to the home of shooter Ian Long shared with his mother, says she always found Long odd and disrespectful.
She says he was strange even before entering the military.
Tom Hanson called the police on Ian Long in April when he heard loud noises and shouting. Julie Hanson says her husband and a neighbor were worried that he was going to injure himself or his mother.
She says Ian Long was unfriendly and never made eye contact. She could often hear him yelling and cursing.
UPDATE (4:35 p.m.) – A pastor at a Thousand Oaks-area church says between 20 and 30 members were inside Borderline Bar and Grill during the deadly shooting.
Pastor Shawn Thornton said Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village will hold a vigil Thursday night and offer counseling throughout the week.
He says three families were directly affected either by a death or injury.
Noel Sparks, a part-time staff member who worked at the church while going to college, was among the 12 people killed.
“‘If God is God, how could this happen?'” Thornton said. “That’s a question that will emerge.”
UPDATE (4:20 p.m.) – Witness Dallas Knapp posted video showing the shadowy gunman during the deadly attack in Thousand Oaks, California, that left 12 people dead.
Glass can be heard shattering in the background and a series of gunshots ring out in the empty bar during the Wednesday night attack.
Knapp says in an Instagram post that he looked the gunman in the eyes while he killed Knapp’s friends. He says he hopes the killer rots in hell.
Knapp also said in the post that the gunman was shooting people as they tried to flee out windows.
A second video, which Knapp posted on Facebook, shows two officers running in a parking lot.
Knapp dedicated the post to sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, who died in the attack.
Thousand Oaks shooting news conference
Authorities in Thousand Oaks provide an update on the shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill. (News conference beginning at approximately 1:15 p.m.)
Posted by KSBY on Thursday, November 8, 2018
UPDATE (3:10 p.m.) – Officials say five off-duty officers were inside Borderline Bar and Grill in the city of Thousand Oaks when gunfire erupted and helped get people to safety.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Garo Kuredjian said Thursday that the two officers from the city of Oxnard and three from Los Angeles “assisted in evacuating those that were injured” and helped prevent others from being hurt.
When the gunfire ended Wednesday night, 12 people were dead and suspect David Long was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities have not determined a motive.
UPDATE (3 p.m.) – Brendan Kelly found himself in a terrifying and familiar scene when bullets started flying at Southern California bar on Wednesday night. It was his second mass shooting.
Like several others who were at the bar, Kelly is a survivor of last year’s massacre in Las Vegas, which killed 58 people.
The 22-year-old Kelly says he was dancing with friends when the gunfire started at Borderline Bar and Grill in the city of Thousand Oaks.
By the time it was over, 12 people were dead, and gunman Ian David Long was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Kelly, a Marine, was able to escape out the back with friends. He says God will never give him more than he can handle and that he’s “here for a reason.”
UPDATE (2:45 p.m.) – Two Southern California universities have been shaken by the mass shooting at a popular bar’s weekly “College Country Night.”
Pepperdine University says 16 of its students were at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks late Wednesday when a gunman attacked, killing 12 people, including a responding sheriff’s sergeant.
Pepperdine says one of its students has been confirmed killed and two other students were treated and released from a hospital.
Another area college, California Lutheran University, confirmed that one of its recent graduates also was killed.
Cal Lutheran canceled classes Thursday and extended the cancellation through Friday.
Both universities are offering counseling and have organized prayer services.
UPDATE (2:35 p.m.) – A couple living behind the house of the California mass shooting suspect says he frequently had loud and aggressive arguments with his mother.
Don and Effie MacLeod said in an interview Thursday they heard what sounded like a gunshot from the house during a nighttime argument about 18 months ago but did not call police.
The MacLeods have lived in the Newbury Park neighborhood since 1983. Don MacLeod says Colleen Long moved in about 12 years ago and that Ian Long lived in the house on and off.
Authorities say Ian Long shot and killed 12 people late Wednesday at a crowded bar and grill in the nearby city of Thousand Oaks
The MacLeods say they saw Colleen Long walking her dogs around the neighborhood and that they often chatted with her.
But Don MacLeod says he avoided speaking with Ian Long because of his body language and the loud, vulgar arguments he had with his mother.
He says “the first I saw the guy I figured out, keep your distance.”
The MacLeods say the arguments seemed to get worse within the last year or so.
UPDATE (2:05 p.m.) – An FBI official says investigators seeking the motive for the mass shooting at a Southern California bar hope evidence will allow them to paint a picture of the gunman’s frame of mind.
Paul Delacourt, assistant director of the Los Angeles field office, says the crime scene, the gunman’s home and car are being processed for evidence and interviews are being conducted.
But he says it’s premature to speculate on the motivation.
The gunman struck late Wednesday at Borderline Bar and Grill in the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks north of Los Angeles.
Eleven people at the bar were killed along with a sheriff’s sergeant who responded to the scene.
The gunman is believed to have killed himself.
He’s been identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long, a former Marine who had been deployed to Afghanistan for seven months.
The county Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to release all names of the victims within several hours.
UPDATE (1:10 p.m.) – California’s incoming Democratic governor has condemned the politicians and gun advocates who he says have normalized mass shootings in America.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom made his first public remarks after winning office Tuesday and dedicated much of his time to the shooting in a country music bar in Southern California that killed 12 people.
He said people need to know the facts of the California case but said he was talking generally about shootings in the U.S. Last month, a shooter opened fire at a synagogue in Pennsylvania, killing 11.
Newsom is a strong supporter of gun control, and said he has no sympathy for firearm advocates who resist what he calls common-sense regulations.
He blamed the country’s “gun culture” and said mass shootings do not happen anywhere else on “Planet Earth.”
UPDATE (12:50 p.m.) – U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell says the former Marine who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar and grill received an honorable discharge.
The Marine Corps has said 28-year-old Ian David Long was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months, from Nov. 16, 2010, to June 14, 2011.
He was in the Marines from August 2008 until March 2013, serving as a machine gunner and earning the rank of corporal in August 2011.
The Marine Corps says Long earned several awards, including a Combat Action Ribbon and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.
He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Authorities say Long opened fire during college night at a Thousand Oaks country music bar on Wednesday night, killing 12 and sending hundreds fleeing before apparently taking his own life.
UPDATE (12:25 p.m.) – California State University, Northridge, says in a statement the gunman in the Thousand Oaks mass shooting was once a student.
The university says 28-year-old Ian David Long last attended the university in 2016. The statement has no further details.
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean identified Long as the gunman who killed 12 people at the Borderline Bar and Grill late Wednesday. The sheriff says Long also was found dead and is believed to have killed himself.
Long was also a former Marine and had been divorced.
Court records show he married in 2009, separated in 2011 and was divorced in 2013.
UPDATE (12:15 p.m.) – “Sister Sister” actress Tamera Mowry-Housley and her husband say their 18-year-old niece was among those killed in the Southern California mass shooting.
The actress and her husband Adam Housley confirmed Thursday that Alaina Housely was killed in the shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in the city of Thousand Oaks.
They say their “hearts are broken” and say they are “devastated that her life was cut short in this manner.”
They called Alaina Housley “an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her.”
A suitemate of Housley at Pepperdine University said on Twitter earlier Thursday that Housely was among a group of women who went dancing at the bar and had not returned.
Adam Housley is a former Fox News correspondent.
UPDATE (11:45 a.m.) – A 23-year-old man has been identified as one of the dozen people killed in the mass shooting at a Southern California bar.
California Lutheran University says in a statement that the family of recent graduate Justin Meek says he is among the dead.
A gunman attacked Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks late Wednesday during a country music dance night.
Other victims identified earlier are 22-year-old Cody Coffman, whose father says he was about to join the Army, and Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, who was shot multiple times in an exchange of gunfire with the attacker.
Authorities say the gunman, 28-year-old Ian David Long, also was found dead.
He is believed to have killed himself.
UPDATE (11:35 a.m.) – Community leaders in Thousand Oaks, California, have established a fund to aid victims of the mass shooting that killed a dozen people at a country music dance event at a local bar.
Officials on Thursday announced the establishment of the Conejo Valley Victims Fund. It was launched with a $100,000 donation from the locally based Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and $250,000 from the Amgen biotechnology company, which is headquartered in Thousand Oaks.
The fund is being administered through the Ventura County Community Foundation and can be found on its website at https://vccf.org/
Officials say 100 percent of the funds donated will go to aid victims’ families.
UPDATE (11:15 a.m.) – A hearse carrying the body of a Southern California sheriff’s deputy slain in a mass shooting has arrived at the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Thousands of people stood along the route or pulled over along U.S. 101 Thursday as a long motorcade escorted the body of Sgt. Ron Helus some 25 miles from a hospital in Thousand Oaks to the coroner’s facility in the city of Ventura.
Law enforcement officers and firefighters saluted at attention and crowds of area residents gathered along streets. County helicopters flew overhead.
Helus was shot multiple times as he and a California Highway Patrol officer exchanged gunfire with a man who attacked staff and patrons at a Thousand Oaks bar where a country music dance event was underway Wednesday night.
Helus and 11 other people were killed. The gunman also died and authorities believe he killed himself.
UPDATE (10:50 a.m.) – The rock group America says it has postponed its show at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza out of respect for victims of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a nearby bar.
The group says Thursday night’s show will be rescheduled to a later date.
In a message from their publicist, founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell offered their “deepest sympathies” to family and friends of those killed and injured.
The band known for songs like “Ventura Highway” and “A Horse With No Name” is currently on a U.S. tour.
America was founded in London in 1970 by Beckley, Bunnell and former member Dan Peek.
UPDATE (10:10 a.m.) – The body of a veteran sheriff’s sergeant fatally shot while responding to a Southern California mass shooting is being taken in a procession from a hospital to a coroner’s office.
A law enforcement motorcade is providing an escort Thursday as the body of Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus is driven about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from a hospital in Thousand Oaks to a coroner’s facility in the city of Ventura.
Firefighters are honoring Helus with a giant U.S. flag raised by two ladder trucks over the route. People are lining streets as the hearse passes.
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says Helus was shot several times in an exchange of gunfire with a man who attacked the Borderline Bar and Grill late Wednesday during a country music dance night popular with college students.
Eleven other people were killed and the gunman is believed to have taken his own life.
UPDATE (10:07 a.m.) – Jason Coffman sobbed as he told reporters that authorities told him that his oldest son Cody Coffman was killed in the shooting.
Jason Coffman said he talked to his 22-year-old son just before he went to the bar Wednesday night.
He says he told his son not to drink and drive and that the last thing he said to his son was: “I love you.”
Coffman says his son leaves behind a legacy of love and laughter and that he was the big brother that his two younger brothers and soon-to-be-born daughter needed.
UPDATE (10:05 a.m.) – A father has identified his 22-year-old son as among the 12 people killed in the shooting rampage at a California bar.
Jason Coffman says his son Cody Coffman has been identified among the victims.
The victims were shot and killed late Wednesday by the gunman who opened fire at the Borderline Bar and Grill, which was holding a weekly country music dance night for college students.
A Ventura County sheriff’s sergeant who responded to the shooting has also been identified as among the dead.
The shooter has been identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long. He was found dead and is believed to have killed himself.
UPDATE (9:35 a.m.) – The mayor of Thousand Oaks, California, says next-of-kin notifications are being prepared about the people who were killed and injured at the mass shooting inside a bar in the city.
Mayor Andrew Fox says it is going to be a “very difficult day for many people.”
Twelve people were shot and killed late Wednesday by the gunman who opened fire at the Borderline Bar and Grill, which was holding a weekly country music dance night for college students.
A Ventura County sheriff’s sergeant who responded to the shooting has been identified as among the dead. The names of the other 11 people who were slain have not been made public.
The shooter has been identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long. He also was found dead and is believed to have killed himself.
UPDATE (9:25 a.m.) – “Sister Sister” actress Tamera Mowry-Housley and her husband are looking for their missing niece following the mass shooting at the Southern California bar.
A Pepperdine University suitemate of the couple’s freshman niece, Alaina Housley, went on Twitter to say her friend was missing and offered a description of what she was wearing.
Mowry-Housley responded by identifying herself as Housley’s aunt and sought to contact the suitemate directly.
Authorities say a gunman killed 12 people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, Wednesday night at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks.
Housley’s suitemate said on Twitter that Housely was among a group of women who went dancing at the bar and has not returned.
Mowry-Housley’s husband, former Fox News correspondent Adam Housley, also took to Twitter to ask: “Please pray if you believe….pray.”
UPDATE (9:15 a.m.) – The gunman who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar was a Marine who served one combat tour in Afghanistan.
The Marine Corps says 28-year-old Ian David Long was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months, from Nov. 16, 2010, to June 14, 2011.
He was in the Marines from August 2008 until March 2013, serving as a machine gunner and earning the rank of corporal in August 2011.
The Marine Corps says Long earned several awards, including a Combat Action Ribbon and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.
He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
Authorities say Long opened fire during college night at a Thousand Oaks country music bar on Wednesday night, killing 12 and sending hundreds fleeing before apparently taking his own life.
UPDATE (9 a.m.) – A neighbor of the suspect in the California bar shooting says the suspect lived with his mother in a neighborhood about five miles (8 kilometers) from the bar where the shooting happened.
Tom Hanson lives next door to the mother of Ian David Long. Authorities say Long shot himself after killing 12 people at the bar in the city of Thousand Oaks.
Hanson says he called the police about six months ago when he heard loud banging and shouting come from Long’s home.
Hanson said he heard “heavy duty banging” followed by shouting and more banging, “then it would get quiet and then it would start over again.”
Hanson says he called sheriff’s deputies and that a deputy arrived and took information but he never learned what happened after the incident.
Hanson has lived in his house for 40 years and said Long and his mother moved in between 12 and 15 years ago.
He says that Long kept to himself and played baseball when he was younger.
UPDATE (8:30 a.m.) – The veteran lawman slain while responding to a mass shooting at a Southern California bar is being described as “cop’s cop.”
Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus was shot late Wednesday when he entered Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, where a weekly country music dance night for college students was being held.
A friend, Sgt. Eric Buschow, says Helus took on some of the toughest assignments, was on the SWAT team for much of his career and worked in narcotics and investigations.
Buschow says Helus was married with a grown son.
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says the report of the shooting came as Helus was on the phone with his wife.
The sheriff says Helus told her, “Hey I gotta go handle a call. I love you. I’ll talk to you later.”
UPDATE (8:25 a.m.) – Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says the gunman who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar used a pistol.
Dean says 28-year-old Ian David Long was armed with a Glock 21, a .45-caliber handgun designed to hold 10 rounds plus one in the chamber.
But the sheriff says the gun had an extended magazine that is illegal in California. The sheriff says he does not know how many rounds that magazine can hold.
The gunman attacked staff and patrons at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks late Wednesday.
The bar west of Los Angeles was holding a weekly country music dance night that attracts area college students.
One of those killed was sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, who was cut down when he tried to enter the club with Highway Patrol officers responding to the gunfire. The others killed have not been identified.
One other person suffered a gunshot wound and as many as 15 others suffered minor injuries from jumping out windows and diving under tables.
Congressman Salud Carbajal issues the following statement Thursday morning:
“Early this morning, gun violence tragically touched our nation once again, this time taking the lives of thirteen of our neighbors in Thousand Oaks. This tragedy hits close to home as I once taught at a Cal Lutheran program. It was devastating to hear that Cal Lutheran students were involved.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the entire community in this time of unimaginable pain. I am incredibly grateful to Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Helus, who exhibited instinctual bravery and sacrifice during this dangerous shooting and ultimately lost his life. Thank you to all of the law enforcement officers at the scene who put their lives on the line for their community.
“It is clear that we have a gun violence crisis. This shooting comes just eleven days after the last mass shooting in our country. Congress must act now to pass meaningful reforms to save lives and prevent future tragedies.”
UPDATE (8:15 a.m.)
President Donald Trump has ordered that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in respect for the victims of the shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California.
Trump ordered the flag be flown at half-staff until sunset Saturday at the White House and on all public buildings, military posts, naval stations an8:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump has ordered that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in respect for the victims of the shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California.
Trump ordered the flag be flown at half-staff until sunset Saturday at the White House and on all public buildings, military posts, naval stations and aboard all U.S. naval vessels.
He also directed the flag to be flown at half-staff at all U.S. embassies and military bases and naval stations abroad.
Authorities say a hooded gunman dressed in all black opened fire Wednesday night at the Southern California bar, killing 12 people and sending hundreds fleeing in terror.
UPDATE (7:59 a.m.)
Authorities hope a search of a gunman’s home will provide information about the motive for a shooting that killed 12 people at a Southern California bar.
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says Ian David Long first shot a security guard, other staff near the door and then patrons late Wednesday in the city of Thousand Oaks.
The sheriff says there’s no indication he specifically targeted employees, but he expects to learn more when a search warrant is served at Long’s home in the nearby community of Newbury Park.
Deputies and FBI agents on Thursday morning were at a modest single family home believed be Long’s in a neighborhood of houses with well-manicured lawns.
UPDATE (7:40 a.m.)
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says the gunman who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar used a pistol.
Dean says 28-year-old Ian David Long was armed with a Glock 21, a .45-caliber handgun designed to hold 10 rounds plus one in the chamber.
But the sheriff says the gun had an extended magazine that is illegal in California. The sheriff says he does not know how many rounds that magazine can hold.
The gunman attacked staff and patrons at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks late Wednesday.
The bar west of Los Angeles was holding a weekly country music dance night that attracts area college students.
One of those killed was sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, who was cut down when he tried to enter the club with Highway Patrol officers responding to the gunfire. The others killed have not been identified.
One other person suffered a gunshot wound and as many as 15 others suffered minor injuries from jumping out windows and diving under tables.
UPDATE (7:10 a.m.)
Authorities have identified the suspect in a mass shooting at a Southern California bar as 28-year-old Ian David Long.
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says Long is believed to have killed himself late Wednesday at the Borderline Bar and Grill in the city of Thousand Oaks.
Dean says his department had several previous contacts with the former Marine including a call to his home in April, when deputies found him acting irate and irrationally.
The sheriff says a mental health crisis team was called at that time and concluded that Long did not need to be taken into custody.
Dean says the other prior encounters were a traffic accident and an incident when he was the victim of a battery at a bar.
Long was found dead in the Borderline Bar and Grill after 12 people were shot to death late Wednesday.
UPDATE (6:50 a.m.)
The Southern California bar where a gunman killed 12 people says on its website that it’s been in operation for more than 25 years.
The Borderline Bar and Grill says it has the largest country dance hall and live music venue in Ventura County, which is north of Los Angeles.
The bar was holding its regular “College Country Nights” Wednesday night when the gunman dressed in black opened fire inside the bar.
The bar includes a large dance hall with a stage and a pool room along with several smaller areas for eating and drinking.
It is popular with students from nearby California Lutheran University who enjoy country music.
It is also close to several other universities, including California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo, Pepperdine University in Malibu and Moorpark College in Moorpark.
UPDATE (6:20 a.m.)
California Lutheran University has canceled classes following a shooting at nearby bar where some of the college’s students were attending a country music dance night.
The Cal Lutheran website says the university community is invited to gather Thursday at the school’s chapel.
The university is a short drive from the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks where authorities say a gunman killed 12 people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, Wednesday night. The gunman was also found dead.
Cal Lutheran has more than 3,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,300 graduate students.
UPDATE (6 a.m.)
The Borderline Bar & Grill is about a 10-minute drive from California Lutheran University, where students started receiving messages about the shooting right after it started.
Cal Lutheran student body president Nick Steinwender told KTLA-TV he and his roommate went to the scene to offer rides back to campus and moral support and there were already other students from the university there.
Steinwender says “it just feels like it’s an attack on our community.”
UPDATE (5:15 a.m.)
A law enforcement official says authorities have identified the gunman and the handgun he used to kill 12 people at a Southern California bar.
The official told The Associated Press the man was 29 years old and deployed a smoke device and used a .45-caliber handgun when he opened fire inside the Borderline Bar & Grill late Wednesday in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles.
The official declined to provide any other details, speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to publicly discuss the investigation.
Authorities and witnesses say the gunman wore dark clothing and didn’t say anything as he fired inside the bar. Hundreds of people fled, some breaking windows and jumping out of second-floor windows to escape.
UPDATE (5:05 a.m.)
Video accessed by The Associated Press shows gripping images at the scene of a mass shooting at a California bar.
Several rounds of gunfire can be heard as a terrified witness runs out of the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks.
Police cars are seen arriving and an armed officer takes up position outside the bar. Three men rush out carrying a bloodied fourth individual. They try and stem the bleeding of what appears to be a gunshot wound.
A sheriff says 13 people were killed, including a sheriff’s sergeant and the gunman.
UPDATE (5 a.m.)
President Donald Trump is offering condolences after a mass shooting at a Southern California bar.
Trump said on Twitter Thursday that he has been “fully briefed on the terrible shooting.” He praised law enforcement, saying “Great bravery shown by police” and said “God bless all of the victims and families of the victims.”
I have been fully briefed on the terrible shooting in California. Law Enforcement and First Responders, together with the FBI, are on scene. 13 people, at this time, have been reported dead. Likewise, the shooter is dead, along with the first police officer to enter the bar….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2018
….Great bravery shown by police. California Highway Patrol was on scene within 3 minutes, with first officer to enter shot numerous times. That Sheriff’s Sergeant died in the hospital. God bless all of the victims and families of the victims. Thank you to Law Enforcement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2018
A gunman opened fire on a crowd at a country dance bar holding a weekly “college night” Wednesday night. The mass shooting killed 12 people and sent hundreds fleeing in terror. The gunman was later found dead at the scene.
Law enforcement said the dead from the shooting included 11 people inside the bar and a sheriff’s sergeant who was the first officer inside the door.
UPDATE (4:55 a.m.)
A survivor of the California bar shooting says the gunman was wearing a black hoodie and holding a handgun as he opened fire.
Cole Knapp is a freshman at Moorpark College and was inside the Borderline Bar & Grill when the shooting began.
He says he tried to get as many people to cover as he could. He says he fled through an exit door to a closed patio where he told people “everybody get over the fence as quickly as you can,” and followed them over.
Then he says he found a highway patrol officer nearby who just happened to pull someone over, and he screamed to him, “there’s a shooter in there!”
Knapp says the officer “was kind of in disbelief,” then saw he was serious. He says he has friends who haven’t been accounted for.
UPDATE (4:15 a.m.)
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean choked back tears as he described the sheriff’s sergeant killed in a mass shooting at a California bar.
The sheriff said Sgt. Ron Helus undoubtedly saved lives by going in to confront the gunman. He says Helus was the first responder and was immediately hit with multiple gunshots.
He says a highway patrolman pulled out Helus and waited for a SWAT team as scores of other officers converged on the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks at about 11:20 p.m.
By the time they entered the bar again the gunfire had stopped, and they found 12 people dead inside, including the gunman. He says Helus was later declared dead at a hospital.
Dean says Helus was his longtime friend and gym partner and planned to retire soon after 29 years with the force. He leaves a wife and son.
The sheriff says he told Helus’ wife “he died a hero because he went in to save lives.”
UPDATE (3:50 a.m.)
Survivors of the bar shooting are describing moments of panic and heroism as a gunman turned a dance floor into a killing zone.
Nineteen-year-old Tayler Whitler says she was dancing and her friends were at a table by the door as the gunman opened fire. She says everyone yelled “Get down!” and it was silent for a couple seconds, then she heard “Get up, he’s coming!” and people were trampling on each other to get out.
Nineteen-year-old Erika Sigman found herself hiding with a group of strangers, and they were holding her hands.
She says “there is a lot of bad in this world, but there is also a lot of good and people will help.”
A sheriff says 13 people were killed at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, including a sheriff’s sergeant and the gunman.
UPDATE (3 a.m.)
The Ventura County Sheriff says 13 people are dead, including a sheriff’s sergeant and the gunman, after a shooting inside a crowded Thousand Oaks bar late Wednesday.
Sheriff Geoff Dean says sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus responded to the scene and was shot after he entered the building. He died at a hospital early Thursday.
Authorities did not say how the gunman died.
Dean says around 10 other people were shot and wounded. No other information on the victims was immediately known.
Officials said the first reports of shots fired came around 11:20 p.m. at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks.
#OaksInc: Ongoing active shooter incident reported at Borderline in @CityofTO . Please stay away from area. Active law enforcement incident. Multiple injuries reported. Details still being determined. Multiple ambulances requested. @VCFD pic.twitter.com/4X3b8KMisc
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) November 8, 2018
The bar’s website says its hosts “College Country Night” every Wednesday. Police said hundreds were inside when the shooting occurred.
#OaksInc Family hotline number for the active shooter in Thousand Oaks is 1(805)465-6650. @VCFD @VCSOVentura @CityofTO
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) November 8, 2018
UPDATE (2:15 a.m.) – Ventura County Sheriff Sgt. Eric Buschow says the gunman is dead inside a Southern California bar where 11 people were injured late Wednesday.
Authorities say a responding deputy was shot and taken to a hospital. No other information on the victims was immediately known.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Garo Kuredjian said the first reports of shots fired came around 11:20 p.m. at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, which is about 40 miles west of Los Angeles.
The bar’s website says its hosts “College Country Night” every Wednesday. Authorities said hundreds were inside when the shooting occurred.
According to NBC Los Angeles, an emergency hotline has been set up to assist family and friends in locating people that may have been at Borderline Bar at the time of the shooting: 805-465-6650
UPDATE (1:25 a.m.) – The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office says there is no longer a threat to the general public outside of the bar and grill.
Deputies don’t feel that the shooter has left the bar and grill. They couldn’t say whether the attacker was captured or transported to a hospital, but said they believe there is no longer a threat to the public.
Captain Garo Kuredjian referred to the shooter as a he, but didn’t release any other information about the suspect.
He said there are now 11 confirmed injuries, up from six previously, although that number could change.
He says it’s not a scene where it’s safe for people to go in and out at this point. They are still trying to ensure that the nightclub is safe, and they don’t have a time estimate for when that could happen.
LIVE: Update from authorities following shooting in Thousand Oaks https://t.co/JKSV2NRK16
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 8, 2018
UPDATE (1:10 a.m.) – A witness tells NBC Los Angeles he saw the gunman.
“I saw him walk in, and he started shooting,” said Michel Hunter. “It took forever to get the cops there.”
He said he heard about 20 shots.
UPDATE (12:50 p.m.) – The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office says when deputies first arrived at Borderline, they heard gunfire.
Garo Kuredjian, a Captain with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, held a press conference around 12:45 a.m. Thursday and said deputies had first responded for a report of “shots fired” around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday. When they arrived at the scene, they still heard those shots being fired inside.
Kuredjian said at least six people had been injured inside the bar and grill, including a Deputy Sheriff who was transported to the hospital.
He said the Sheriff’s Office was not able to release the conditions or extent of injuries for any of the victims, but that it is still a very active scene.
Dozens of law enforcement personnel are still at the scene. Kuredjian says they’re working to make sure the threat is neutralized if there still is an active threat. He said they can’t consider the situation under control at this point, and it is possible the shooter is still alive and a threat.
A special weapons and tactics team, Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies, Ventura police, and Simi Valley police are all responding.
He estimated there may have been hundreds of people inside at the time of the shooting, but could only confirm six victims at the time of the press conference.
Everything is very preliminary at this time, and deputies are still processing the scene to make sure the shooter is neutralized and victims are taken care of.
Reporters asked about witness reports that the attacker used smoke bombs, but deputies could not confirm that information.
When asked whether there were any fatalities, Kuredjian said they couldn’t release the status of anyone who was shot.
“Thousand Oaks is a very safe community. This is something that thankfully is very unusual and doesn’t happen often in our neighborhood,” said Kuredjian.
He wasn’t able to release any information on whether any weapons were recovered at the scene.
He says they train regularly for active shooter scenarios with all of their law enforcement partners so they’re trained on responding to these types of situations.
Another update is expected shortly.
Law enforcement are responding to a mass shooting at a popular country bar in Thousand Oaks.
NBC Los Angeles says the first reports came in around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday. Police received reports that multiple victims were hurt in a shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. The bar is located at 99 Rolling Oaks Drive, just off Highway 101.
According to the bar’s Instagram page, a College Night event was taking place at the time. There are several colleges in the nearby, including Cal Lutheran, Pepperdine, and CSU Channel Islands.
Officials say an officer was down and unresponsive. NBC LA says a trail of blood was visible on the street, and multiple people were loaded onto an ambulance.
Witnesses say the attacker had a large handgun of some sort, however, police have not confirmed exactly what sort of weapon was used.
No information was immediately available about how many people were shot or injured, but NBC LA tweeted early Thursday morning that multiple people had been injured.
This is a developing story and will be updated when further information becomes available.
