Marine veteran main suspect in mass shooting at California bar

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mass shootings

Meg Grice

The 307th mass shooting this year left 12 people dead in a Thousand Oaks, California bar Wednesday night.

Armed with a handgun, Ian David Long is suspected of opening fire inside the Borderline Bar and Grill Wednesday night in Thousand Oaks, California. According to USA Today, Long was a Marine veteran with a history of incidents with law enforcement.

At approximately 11:20 p.m., police believe Long fired shots inside the bar which was hosting its weekly “college country night.”

Gun Violence Archives defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people were shot. This is the sixth mass shooting in November according to their website.

After three minutes of bullet fire, Long made his way into one of the bar’s offices where he was later found to be deceased, according to authorities. Police suspect Long to have committed suicide.

Of the fatalities was Sgt. Ron Helus with the Ventura County Police Department. Helus, though wounded at the scene, passed away later at the hospital. The New York Times has confirmed the deaths of Alaina Housley, Justin Meek and Cody Coffman so far as well.

The shooter was said to have possessed a legal handgun. Despite this, the magazine for the weapon was longer than deemed acceptable by the state of California.

Long had served time in the military from 2008 to 2013 as a Marine corporal where he received both the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.

Though Long had committed some traffic violations, a crisis team designated for mental health was called to his home earlier in the year to settle a domestic dispute. The crisis team decided it was unnecessary at the time to take him into custody though he was described as irrational and enraged by the County Sheriff, Geoff Dean.

The Associated Press wrote, “President Donald Trump praised police for their ‘great bravery’ in the attack and ordered flags flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.”