At least 12 dead after a mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California

At least 12 people were killed and at least 10 more injured Wednesday night in a mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, outside Los Angeles. A sheriff’s deputy is among the dead.

Several hundred people, many of them teenagers, were inside the Borderline Bar & Grill, which was hosting a “college country night” when a 29-year-old white male armed with a handgun opened fire.

The shooter, Ian David Long, who lived 10 minutes from the venue, was also found dead at the scene. Reports suggest he may have taken his own life. His motive for the shooting is unknown.

Police responded to a call at 11:20 p.m. local time about a shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill on 99 Rolling Oaks Drive. The bar is frequented by students from local colleges including Moorpark, Pepperdine, California Lutheran University, and California State University.

The suspect was armed with a single, .45-caliber handgun and smoke devices and police said he managed to fire around 30 shots in total. According to sources speaking to the LA Times, the shooter drove his mother’s car to the site.

Eyewitnesses say the gunman, dressed in black, threw smoke bombs into the venue before opening fire on the doorman and a cashier.

People tried to escape by using chairs to smash the windows, witnesses told CNN.

A unit from the Ventura County Sheriff and two patrols units arrived soon after. Sergeant Ron Helus entered the building with a patrol officer. Helus, a 29-year veteran of the force who was planning to retire next year, was hit by multiple shots. He later died of his injuries.

“He was hard-working, he was totally committed, he gave his all and, tonight, as I told his wife, he died a hero,” Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said. “He gave his life to save other people.”

Long was a 28-year-old veteran who lived in Newbury Park, less than 10 minutes from the Borderline bar. He used his mother’s car to travel to the venue on Wednesday night. Neighbors told ABC7 that Long was a former Marine and suffered from PTSD. “I have no idea what he was doing with a gun,” one neighbor said. Authorities are now searching Long’s home in a bid to try and establish a motive for the shooting.

Dean told a news conference on Thursday that a further 11 people in the bar had been killed. “It’s a horrific scene in there,” he said. “There is blood everywhere and the suspect is part of that.”

The names of the other victims have yet to be released. There were around 200 people in the bar when the shooting started. NBC reported that a trail of blood was visible on the street outside the venue.

Authorities say a further 10 people were injured.

“This maniac just came in and started shooting people for no reason,” one eyewitness said.

President Donald Trump said Thursday morning that he had been briefed on the situation and thanked law enforcement for their bravery.

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris her “heart aches” for the victims of the shooting.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that “thoughts and prayers” will not prevent another mass shooting.

The bar was reportedly packed with students from the nearby California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University and California State University. Classes at California Lutheran are canceled Thursday as a result of the shooting.

One of the people in the bar told a local ABC station that several of his friends in the bar were survivors of the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas just over a year ago.

Officers who arrived on the scene after the shooting found people hiding in restrooms and even in the crawl space of the attic.

A number of survivors have described what happened inside the bar when the gunman entered.

“It was a normal Wednesday,” one woman told reporters. “We thought it was a joke. We didn’t take it seriously at first.”

Another eyewitness told the VC Star that everything happened very quickly.

“It was all in a blink of the eye,” he said. "Guy with a semi-automatic handgun just walked in the front and started popping rounds off at people. It wasn't really random. He was shooting people up-close. So I ran to the back. A bunch of people did. I hid under a pool table. A lot of people went out the side exit.”

John Hodge, who was next to the front door when the shooter walked in, saw a suspect throwing smoke bombs into the front of the restaurant before witnessing the security guard being shot.

“I was at the front door and I was talking to my stepdad. I just started hearing these big pops,” he told ABC7. “Pop, pop, pop. There was probably three or four, I hit the ground. I look up — the security guard is dead. Well, I don't want to say he was dead, but he was shot.”

Hodge continued: “He was down. The gunman was throwing smoke grenades all over the place. I saw him point to the back of the cash register…and he just kept firing. I ran out the front door.”

Cover image: First responders are seen outside Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, U.S. November 7, 2018 in this image obtained from social media on November 8, 2018. (Thomas Gorden/via REUTERS)