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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 9, 2018 3A
CALIFORNIA
Combat vet kills 12 in bar shooting
Motive unknown for suspect who used smoke bombs, handgun on victims before taking own life
MARK J. TERRILL I Associated Press
People comfort each other as they stand near the scene Thursday, Nov. 8, in Thousand Oaks, California, where a gunman
opened fire Wednesday inside a country dance bar crowded with hundreds of people on “college night,” killing 12 people
including a deputy who rushed to the scene.
BY KRYSTA FAURIA
Associated Press
THOUSAND OAKS -
Using a smoke bomb and a
handgun, a hooded Marine
combat veteran dressed all
in black opened fire during
college night at a country
music bar in Southern Cali
fornia, killing 12 people and
sending hundreds fleeing
in terror before apparently
taking his own life, authori
ties said Thursday.
Authorities said the
motive for the attack
Wednesday night was under
investigation.
The killer was identified
as 28-year-old Ian David
Long, a former machine gun
ner and veteran of the war in
Afghanistan who was inter
viewed by police at his home
last spring after an episode
of agitated behavior that
they were told might be post-
traumatic stress disorder.
Screaming in fear,
patrons rushed for the exits,
dived under tables and used
barstools to smash second-
floor windows and jump to
safety as gunfire reverber
ated through the Border
line Bar & Grill, a hangout
popular with students from
nearby California Lutheran
University.
“I dropped to the floor,”
Sarah Rose DeSon told
ABC’s “Good Morning
America.” ”A friend yelled,
‘Everybody down!’ We were
hiding behind tables trying
to keep ourselves covered.”
The dead included 11 peo
ple inside the bar and a vet
eran sheriff’s sergeant who
was the first officer
inside the door, Ven
tura County Sheriff
Geoff Dean said.
“It’s a horrific
scene in there,”
Dean said. “There’s
blood everywhere.”
Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron
Helus and a pass
ing highway patrol
man arrived around
11:20 p.m. in response to sev
eral 911 calls, heard gunfire
and went inside, the sheriff
said. Helus was immediately
shot, Dean said.
The highway patrolman
pulled Helus out, then waited
as a SWAT team and scores
more officers arrived. Helus
died at a hospital.
The bloodshed was the
latest in what seems to be a
never-ending string of mass
shootings that are happen
ing with terrifying frequency
across the United States.
All morning, people look
ing for missing friends and
relatives arrived at a com
munity center where author
ities and counselors were
informing the next-
of-kin of those who
died. Many walked
past TV cameras
with blank stares or
tears in their eyes. In
the parking lot, peo
ple comforted each
other with hugs or a
pat on the back.
Jason Coffman
received the news
that his son Cody, 22, who
was about to join the Army,
was dead. Coffman broke
down as he told reporters
how his last words to his son
as he went out that night
were not to drink and drive
and that he loved him.
“Oh, Cody, I love you, son,”
Coffman sobbed.
“Sister Sister” actress
Tamera Mowry-Housley
and her husband said their
18-year-old niece Alaina
Housely, a student at nearby
Pepperdine University, was
also among those killed . So
was Justin Meek, a 23-year-
old recent graduate of Cal
Lutheran, according to the
university.
It was the nation’s dead
liest such attack since 17
students and teachers were
killed at a Parkland, Florida,
high school nine months ago.
It also came less than two
weeks after a gunman mas
sacred 11 people at a syna
gogue in Pittsburgh.
Democratic Gov.-elect
Gavin Newsom, in his first
public appearance since
winning office on Tuesday,
lamented the violence that
has come again to California.
“It’s a gun culture,” he
said. “You can’t go to a bar
or nightclub? You can’t go
to church or synagogue?
It’s insane is the only way to
describe it. The normaliza
tion, that’s the only way I
can describe it. It’s become
normalized.”
President Donald Trump
praised police for their
“great bravery” in the attack
and ordered flags at half-
staff in honor of the victims.
Long was armed with a
Glock 21, a .45-caliber pistol
designed to hold 10 rounds
plus one in the chamber,
according to the sheriff. But
it had an extended magazine
— one capable of holding
more ammunition — that is
illegal in California, Dean
said.
The killer also deployed a
smoke device, a law enforce
ment official told The Associ
ated Press. The official spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Authorities converged on
Long’s home in Newbury
Park, about 5 miles from
the Borderline bar, in a
search for clues to what set
him off.
“There’s no indication that
he targeted the employees.
We haven’t found any cor
relation,” the sheriff said.
“Maybe there was a motive
for this particular night, but
we have no information lead
ing to that at all.”
Long was in the Marines
from 2008 to 2013, rose to the
rank of corporal and served
in Afghanistan in 2010-11
before he was honorably
discharged, the military
said. Court records show
he married in 2009 and was
divorced in 2013.
Authorities said he had no
criminal record, but in April
officers were called to his
home, where deputies found
him angry and acting irratio
nally. The sheriff said offi
cers were told he might have
PTSD because of his military
service. A mental health
specialist met with him and
didn’t feel he needed to be
hospitalized.
Tom Hanson, 70, who lives
next door to Long and his
mother, said Thursday he
called the police about six
months ago when he heard
“heavy-duty banging” and
shouting coming from the
Longs’ home.
“I was concerned because
I knew he had been in the
military,” he said.
Hanson said the sheriff’s
deputy who arrived took his
information, but he never
learned more about what
happened and hadn’t spoken
to Long since then. He said he
was “dumbfounded” by the
bloodshed.
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