THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA) — A Marine was identified as the shooter who killed 12 people, including a Ventura County sheriff’s sergeant, at a Thousand Oaks bar before apparently killing himself.
Ian David Long, 28, had several contacts with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department over the years, ranging from minor incidents like traffic citations and collisions, to being a victim of battery at a local bar in January of 2015, Sheriff Geoff Dean said.
The bar where Long was battered was not the Borderline Bar & Grill, where authorities say he gunned down patrons attending a “college country night” before apparently shooting himself.
The shooting, reported at about 11:20 p.m., left 12 dead, including Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran of the department.
More recently, sheriff’s deputies made contact with Long in April of this year, when they were called to his home on a report of “subject disturbing.”
“He was irate, acting a little irrationally,” Dean said, so deputies who responded to the incident called out the department’s crisis intervention team, who met with him and cleared him.
“They didn’t feel he was qualified he needed to be taken under 5150,” Dean said, referring to a mental health hold.
Dean confirmed Long was a veteran of the Marine Corps and may have been suffering from PTSD.
The gun used in Wednesday’s shooting was purchased legally and identified as a Glock 21 45-caliber handgun that had an extended magazine. Dean said the weapon is still being processed and it’s not clear how many rounds were on it.
