At least 12 people have been killed and around a dozen more injured in a mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, police have said.
A sheriff’s sergeant died after being shot and the gunman was found dead inside the Borderline Bar & Grill, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean confirmed. Mr Dean later identified the suspected gunman as Ian David Long, 28.
Witnesses said the gunman fired several shots from a handgun before throwing smoke bombs into the crowded bar.
The victims include Sheriff's Sergeant Ron Helus who "died a hero" in trying to stop the gunman Mr Dean said. Other victims include Justin Meek, 23, Alaina Housley, 18, and Cody Coffman, 22
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“He was positive, motivational, and truly wanted the best for the people around him,” read a post on the Royal Wrestling Facebook page. “He was one of the victims last night at the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill where he worked as a bouncer.”
Daniel Manrique, 33, was a Marine veteran and focused on helping other veterans adjust to civilian life, according to friends. “I have no doubt that he died a hero, shielding others from gunshots. He will forever be our hero, son, brother, and the best uncle anybody could ever ask for,” Gladys Manrique Kosack, a family member said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this again. I'm alive and home safe," she said on Facebook.
Mr Gunn said his friend, whose name he did not provide, escaped safely out the back.
"There's people that live a whole lifetime without seeing this, and then there's people that have seen it twice," he said.
On Wednesday night, some of those survivors found themselves in a terrifyingly familiar scene, when bullets began flying once again.
The next couple of posts will be about their stories, gathered by the Associated Press.
Brendan Kelly, 22-year-old Marine, was one of them.
"I already didn't wish it on anybody to begin with for the first time," Kelly said Thursday outside his Thousand Oaks home. "The second time around doesn't get any easier."
Mr Kelly, a Marine, said he heard "pop, pop" and instantly knew it was gunfire.
"The chills go up your spine. You don't think it's real — again," he said.
Mr Kelly said he threw two of his friends to the floor and covered them with his body. Then he got a look at the shooter and the terror unfolding and decided they needed to escape.
Mr Kelly said he dragged one woman out a back emergency exit and then, using his belt, T-shirt and Marine training, applied a tourniquet to his friend's bleeding arm.
After the shooting was over, Mr Kelly said he and another Marine friend of his helped victims alongside first responders. Two of his friends were among those killed.
Pastor Shawn Thornton said Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village will hold a vigil Thursday night and offer counseling throughout the week.
He says three families were directly affected either by a death or injury.
Glass can be heard shattering in the background and a series of gunshots ring out in the empty bar during the Wednesday night attack.
Knapp says in an Instagram post that he looked the gunman in the eyes while he killed Knapp's friends.
His mother spoke to the outlet and said she does not want thoughts and prayers. She wants gun control.
The fatal shooting of a dozen people in Thousand Oaks, California, has inspired hundreds of area residents to line up for hours on Thursday to donate blood for the wounded.
The blood drive drew at least 300 people to a trailer parked outside a Catholic high school.
The blood drive has been scheduled before the massacre late on Wednesday night, but the big turnout followed a call for donations after the shooting. On a normal day, fewer than 60 people might be expected to turn out, school officials said.
Ventura County Sheriff's Office Captain Garo Kuredjian said Thursday that the two officers from the city of Oxnard and three from Los Angeles "assisted in evacuating those that were injured" and helped prevent others from being hurt.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has deployed victim services personnel — Spanish-speaking representative and K-9 handlers — to assist survivors and families of shooting victims.
Two yellow Labrador Retrievers — Skippy and Nora — and their handlers will visit survivors at hospitals, sit with families waiting for news, and spend time with first responders, according to the district attorney's office.
Here’s the latest on shooting suspect Ian David Long via Reuters:
The man suspected of killing 12 people in a bar in a Los Angeles suburb was a decorated Marine Corp machine gunner deployed in Afghanistan who had several prior brushes with law enforcement, police and Marine officials said on Thursday.
Ian David Long, who also died in the attack late Thursday, was 28 years old and lived in Newbury Park, a prosperous suburb of Californian bungalows and tidy front lawns, about 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Borderline Bar & Grill where the shooting took place.
Long joined the Marines in 2008 and rose to the rank of corporal before leaving active service in 2013, Joseph Butterfield, a Marine spokesman, wrote in an email.
He served in the war in Afghanistan for seven months beginning in late 2010, the Marine Corp said, and was awarded multiple ribbons, commendations and medals.
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