Updated at 10:10 a.m. ET
A gunman killed 12 people and injured several more at a country music bar in Ventura County, Calif., late Wednesday, police said. When the shooting started, the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks likely held hundreds of people, drawn by College Country Night.
The dead include Sgt. Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran of law enforcement who died at a nearby hospital, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean told reporters early Thursday.
After the shooting was reported about 11:20 p.m. local time, Helus entered the building along with a highway patrol officer and was shot multiple times.
“He died a hero. He went in to save lives, to save other people,” Dean said. He also said the 54-year-old sergeant had been slated to retire next year.
As the gunman approached the bar, “he shot a security guard outside, and went inside and continued to fire, and killed 11 people inside,” the sheriff told NPR.
All of the other victims seemed to be from 19 to 25 years old, Dean said. Investigators are still working to identify them, and families have not yet been notified.
The gunman was using a Glock 21 pistol, Dean said later Thursday, in a news briefing after the sun had risen over the crime scene. “We don’t know if he reloaded his weapon or not,” he added.
The gunman was found in an office near the entrance, the sheriff said, adding “We believe he shot himself” after an initial entry by law enforcement.
The sheriff also said his department had come into contact with the suspect twice before, and that he was a veteran of the U.S. Marines.
Witnesses have described the suspect as tall and dressed all in black, wearing a hood. A motive was not yet known, Dean said, and the FBI is assisting with the case.
When police entered the bar, they found a “horrific scene,” Dean said.
There were 10 to 12 people injured inside the bar, Dean said, and other people who had minor injuries left on their own.
Panicked students and other patrons took shelter where they could, scrambling to hide from the gunman. Many fled when and how they could. One witness told NPR’s Nate Rott that he and others were able to escape after they grabbed a bar stool and threw it through a back window.
“I heard something go off — obviously, the gunshots,” witness Erica Sigman told NPR’s Kirk Siegler. “And I realized that it was not music very very quickly. And I heard everyone scream, ‘Get down!’ I heard people start saying, ‘Run.’ So I booked it to my car and with a group of people. … And hid behind my cars for a little bit. It stopped and then there was a second round that went off.”
Another witness told ABC 7 that he saw a suspect throw smoke bombs into the front of the restaurant and shoot a security guard.
“I was at the front door and I was talking to my stepdad. I just started hearing these big pops,” John Hedge told the station. “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. 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.”
When sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, they were “still hearing shots” inside, said Capt. Garo Kuredjian of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
“The initial report indicated that a man had opened fire with a semi-automatic gun,” the Ventura County Star reports, adding that “Officers on the scene indicated that approximately 30 shots had been fired and that victims would be at multiple locations as they fled.”
Aerial footage from local news media showed a massive police response to the scene of the shooting, as multiple law enforcement agencies sent officers to help.
Wednesday nights at the Borderline Bar & Grill are billed as Country College Night; Borderline’s website advertises dance lessons at 9:30 and 10:30, and its Facebook page shows people line dancing.
The Borderline is popular with students from Pepperdine University, which says it has confirmed that “multiple” students were at the bar Wednesday night.
The university is holding classes as normal on Thursday, it says in an emergency bulletin. It adds that students can “adjust their class schedules today” if needed.
In addition to Pepperdine, other colleges, including California State University, Channel Islands, and California Lutheran University are located a short drive from the bar.
Early Thursday, a family reunification center was set up down the highway from the Borderline, which the sheriff’s department says is staffed with chaplains and Red Cross workers.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department says Helus’ body will be taken from the hospital to the medical examiner’s office in a procession scheduled for 10 a.m. local time Thursday.
“He leaves behind a wife and son,” the agency said. “Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.”
This is a breaking news story. As often happens in situations like these, some information reported early may turn out to be inaccurate. We’ll move quickly to correct the record and we’ll only point to the best information we have at the time.
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