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Who Was Ian David Long, The Former Marine ID'd As The SoCal Bar Shooter Who Killed 12?
Ian David Long, 28, opened fire at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 12 on Wednesday night. Here's what we know.
Police in Southern California have identified the culprit behind the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in the city of Thousand Oaks as 28-year-old Ian David Long. He’s believed to have killed himself inside the venue after shooting 12 people to death Wednesday night. A sheriff's sergeant responding to the scene was among the 12 killed. After gunfire erupted, bar patrons were forced to use bar stools to smash second-floor windows and jump to safety, according to the Associated Press. Many of the patrons were college students as the bar was holding its weekly "College Country Nights" event when the shooting broke out. At least four colleges are located in close proximity to the bar.
Cole Knapp, a freshman at Moorpark College, told the Associated Press that initially, he thought the chaos was "just someone with an M-80, just kind of playing a prank." But he soon learned it was no joke when he got a good look at Long. So, what do we know about the suspect so far?
He wore all black.
He was reportedly wearing some sort of black head covering, which concealed at least part of his face, and a black hoodie, according to the Associated Press. He also reportedly wore a black trench coat and eyeglasses, witnesses told CNN.
He had a single weapon.
Long used one gun during the shooting, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean (pictured) said at a press conference. A .45 caliber Glock 21 was the sole weapon used in the attack, a gun designed to hold 10 rounds plus one in the chamber. However, Dean said the gun had been modified to hold extra rounds.
He threw some sort of smoke device.
Before opening fire, Long employed a smoke device of some sort, police told the Associated Press.
He was an ex-Marine.
Dean said at a Thursday press conference that Long was a former Marine. He was on active duty with the US Marine Corps from August 2008 to March 2013, according to CNN.
He had a mental health crisis team called on him.
During the Thursday press conference, Dean revealed that officers responded to a disturbance at Long's home. Even though a mental health specialist met with Long, they decided not to detain him under any mental health law.
“They went to the house, they talked to him,” Dean said. “He was somewhat irate. Acting a little irrationally.”
He was a loner who practiced dance moves in a garage.
Blake Winnett, Long’s former roommate, told the New York Post, “He was kind of weird. He always locked himself in his room, he was always by himself. I didn’t really know him very well.”
“He would go to the gym and then he would, I guess, try to learn dance moves or something. He would close the garage and be playing music and dancing in there, like sweating. I would open the garage and would be like, ‘What are you doing?'”
He was once a victim of battery at a bar.
At Thursday’s press conference Dean said that Long was once the victim of battery at a local bar in Thousand Oaks in 2015. He did not specify which bar.
[Photo: Associated Press]
