Photo Credit: Screenshot/Twitter
At least 13 people are dead and dozens injured after a gunman opened fire at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif at approximately 11:00 pm PST last night (Nov. 7).
Borderline Bar & Grill was hosting its weekly Country College Night where students from Moorpark College were in attendance.
CNN reports the shooter, who’s now been identified as 28-year-old veteran Ian David Long, was wearing black and suddenly opened fire when he entered the bar.
“This guy just came out of nowhere and came out with a gun and shot people in Thousand Oaks, California,” a Country Night attendee named Holden Harrah said. “And that’s what’s really blowing my mind, it’s a really safe area.”
A California Lutheran University student named Teylor Whittler said, “I heard a gunshot, I turned around and I saw him shoot a couple more times. Within a split second, everybody yelled ‘get down.”
Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean says Long used a legal .45-caliber handgun. A .45-caliber typically holds 10 rounds, plus one in the chamber, Deans says the shooter used an “extended magazine in this shooting.”
Long’s body was found dead inside the bar when police arrived. It’s reported that he may have shot himself, but his cause of death is unconfirmed.
Dean addressed the community in a press conference late last night, calling the events at Borderline Bar & Grill a “horrific incident.”
It’s reported that the former U.S. Marine Long has had previous “run-ins” with the law, including one in April of this year. Authorities responded to a disturbance at Long’s home where he was said to be “somewhat irate and acting irrationally.” A mental health specialist was called to the scene to speak with Long, but ultimately cleared him, saying he didn’t meet the requirements for a 5150 (temporary, involuntary psychiatric commitment).
Some of students present at the time of the shooting are said to have survived last year’s Las Vegas massacre.
More photos from the scene outside Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. https://t.co/1DFIBMmd75 pic.twitter.com/TvivEr4SDj
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 8, 2018