THOUSAND OAKS California: Tattooed trenchcoat-wearing ex-Marine, 28, is identified as gunman who massacred twelve people during student night at country bar: Suspect killed himself after hurling smoke grenades onto dance floor and slaying cop in California
The gunman who fatally shot at least 12 people at a crowded country and western dance hall in Thousand Oaks, Calif., was identified on Thursday as a 28-year-old who had served in the Marine Corps.
The Ventura County sheriff, Geoff Dean, said that the suspect, Ian David Long of Newbury Park, Calif., apparently took his own life after being confronted by officers responding to the Wednesday night attack. The .45-caliber handgun he used was purchased legally, but had been outfitted with an extended magazine.
He killed 11 people inside the bar and one of the first cops on the scene before taking his own life.
Survivors from the shooting said he looked ‘like he knew what he was doing’ as he repeatedly fired his legally purchased Glock .45 handgun.
As dozens ran for their lives, hid beneath pool tables and used bar stools to shatter the windows to escape, Long continued firing and also threw smoke grenades to confuse the crowds.
When the first police officers arrived at the scene three minutes later, Long shot one of them multiple times before shooting himself.
By the time SWAT teams arrived, he was dead. His body was found in an office inside the bar. The sheriff’s sergeant who was shot later died in hospital. He was Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran.
In total, 13 are dead; 11 people who were killed inside the bar, the sheriff’s sergeant and the gunman. Long is a former Marine who lived in nearby Newbury Park.
