Thousand Oaks: what we know about the California shooting and gunman

Adam Gabbatt in New York
Updated
Thousand Oaks: what we know about the California shooting and gunman

  • Ian David Long, a former US marine, found dead at the scene

  • Twelve people were killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill

The man who shot and killed 12 people in Thousand Oaks, California, was identified on Monday as Ian David Long.

Ron Helus, a Ventura county sheriff’s sergeant, was among those killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill, about 40 miles west of Los Angeles. Long was found dead at the scene, having apparently shot himself.

Here’s what we know of Long so far.

Mental health officials were called to his home this year

Ventura county sheriff Geoff Dean said sheriff’s deputies were called to Long’s home in Newbury Park, five miles west of Thousand Oaks, in April 2018. They found Long “somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally”, Dean said. The deputies called in mental health specialists. The specialists decided Long’s mental state did not require him to be detained for further assessment.

Long was a former marine

Dean said Long was a veteran of the US Marine Corps. The 28-year-old was on active duty with the marines from August 2008 to March 2013, CNN reported, citing the Department of Defense. The marine corps told news organizations that Long served in Afghanistan between November 2010 and June 2011. He was a machine gunner.

The gun was legally purchased

Authorities said the .45 caliber Glock handgun used in the shooting was legally purchased. But Dean said Long had used an extended magazine – illegal in California – during the shooting, which would enable the weapon to fire more rounds before needing to be reloaded.

There appears to have been no motive

Dean said officials had been unable to find a connection between Long and the Borderline bar. “We have no idea what the motive was at this point,” Dean said. Neighbors told local news channel ABC6 that Long lived with his mother, who had expressed concern over her son’s behavior.

Long was assaulted in a different Thousand Oaks bar

Long was “the victim of a battery” at a bar in Thousand Oaks in January 2015, Dean said. Long had received two minor traffic citations in recent years, Dean said. One came after he was involved in a traffic collision.

He had recently been a university student

Long had attended California State University, Northridge. “We have learned that the reported shooter is a former CSUN student, who last attended in 2016,” said Dianne Harrison, the university’s president. Harrison did not give any more details.