Twelve killed in mass shooting at California bar

Eleven civilians and a sheriff’s sergeant were killed by a hooded gunman who let off a smoke bomb before shooting into the crowd and then taking his own life

Twelve people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, were killed in a mass shooting inside a crowded southern California bar by a gunman who is then believed to have taken his own life.

The killer was identified as Ian David Long, a 28-year-old former US marine with mental issues, with investigators trying to find the motive for the attack at a venue hosting a country music evening for students.

The hooded killer used a smoke bomb and a handgun, sending hundreds of people fleeing in terror.

Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said his department had several previous contacts with Long, including a call to his home in April, when deputies found him angry and acting irrationally.

The sheriff said a mental health crisis team was called at the time and concluded Long did not need to be taken into custody.

Patrons at the bar screamed in fear, shouted, “Get down!” and used bar stools to smash second-floor windows and jump to safety as gunfire erupted at the Borderline Bar & Grill, a Thousand Oaks venue popular with students from nearby California Lutheran University.

The dead included 11 people inside the bar and a sheriff’s sergeant, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 17 students and teachers were killed at Florida school nine months ago. It came less than two weeks after a gunman massacred 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

That, in turn, closely followed the series of pipe bombs mailed to critics of President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump praised police for their “great bravery” in the California attack and said, “God bless all of the victims and families of the victims”

“Sheriff’s Sergeant Ron Helus and a passing highway patrolman arrived at the Borderline around 11.20pm in response to several 911 calls, heard gunfire and went inside”, Mr Dean said.

“Sgt Helus was immediately hit with multiple gunshots,” he continued.

The highway patrolman pulled Sgt Helus out, then waited as a Swat team and scores more officers arrived.

Sgt Helus died early yesterday morning at a hospital.

By the time they entered the bar again, the gunfire had stopped, according to the sheriff.

They found 12 people dead inside, including the gunman who apparently took his own life, the sheriff said.