At least 12 men and women between the ages of 21 and 26 years old were shot and killed Wednesday night (Nov. 7) at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California.
The first shot occurred at about 11:20 PM PST. The gunman shot the person standing outside the door and forced his way into the nightclub where several witnesses say he also killed a woman behind the counter.
“I see that girl every single time I’m there,” Holden Harrah told CNN. “I don’t know her name but (she) is someone I make small contact with and I say hi every time.”
Surviving attendees told local outlets they initially assumed the gunshots were the popping of balloons. Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, Ron Helus was shot multiple times while attempting to enter the local after-hours establishment.
Borderline Bar & Grill was a country bar known to have weekly, country, swing dancing, salsa and college nights where students from California Lutheran University and Pepperdine University would attend.
Witnesses say the shooter wore a black trenchcoat, with glasses, used a short-barreled handgun to kill attendees. Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said details are limited on the gunman. “We don’t know anything about him yet.”
Update: Police have identified the shooter as 28-year-old as David Ian Long. The Marine veteran was described as “acting a little irrationally” when cops were called to his home earlier in the year to check out a disturbance. Long apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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