Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 28 y.o. tattooed ex-marine drives mom’s car to Borderline Bar opens fire, murders 12

Episode Date: November 8, 2018

The man who killed 12 people in a southern California bar is identified as a former U.S. marine who deputies previously suspected was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome when they visited his home in April. Ventura County Sheriff Geof Dean says Ian David Long, 28, stormed into the Borderline Bar and Grille in Thousand Oaks with a Glock pistol and smoke grenades. He fatally wounded 11 people inside the club and a Ventura County sheriff's sergeant who rushed in to stop the attack. Nancy Grace looks at the mass attack with Los Angeles defense lawyer Troy Slaten, forensics expert Karen Smith, psychologist Caryn Stark, former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes, crime scene investigator Sheryl McCollum, and reporter Alan Duke. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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crime stories with nancy grace basically heard the shots it was a tall probably, probably 6'2", 6'3", dark figure, all black with his hood on. And he basically was unloading. And all I did was grab as many people as I could and pull them underneath the table. And then until I heard the shots, until I heard a break in the shots, and then we got people out of there as much as we could. It sounds like you smashed a window out. Yeah, we did. Describe that.

Bar stools go through windows. It works. I mean, I interviewed somebody who went through that window. You helped get them out, so you pulled a lot of people out. That's all we could do. The only thing that I could have wished for is to have something better than a barstool. If you are like most people, you woke up this morning to learn 12 dead in a student massacre. At least 12 dead as a trench coat wearing masked gunman storms the student night at a local country bar. Why? Throwing smoke grenades onto the dance floor? Killing a cop?

It's overwhelming what we are learning right now. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Repeat. At least 12 dead as a trench coat wearing masked gunman rages into student night at a local country bar, hurling smoke grenades onto the dance floor, even killing a cop in California. I'm overwhelmed as so many people are. Straight out to Alan Duke joining us in L.A.

Alan, what happened? It was 11.20 in the evening. It was college night at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, and kids were enjoying country night. And they were dancing, they were drinking, they were having a good time, and gunfire rang out. Witnesses tell us this guy just walks in and starts shooting. You know, we are talking about a kind of a homey little bar, a country bar that was college night that night. College country night is a regular fixture and teens from nearby colleges all go there and they have a good time. Many of them stamping black Xs on their hands to mark that they will not be drinking. All of these students who are crammed in, students from Pepperdine, California Lutheran,

to heavily, heavily Christian schools, was this a hate crime? Was the shooter trying to stamp out Christian students? We don't know all the answers yet, but listen. I thought it was a joke when the shots started firing. And I just, I don't, I know people there. I know, I just, I hope everybody's okay. I don't know how I didn't get shot. Do you come to this bar a lot?

Yeah, here and there. It's a local spot. There's one of maybe three, yeah, I mean, quite a bit. And you knew more people that were inside already? Yeah. Have you heard from anybody? No, I mean, my friend that works behind the bar wasn't working tonight, but from what I've been been told there's still people in there and it's an active shooter. The gunman he was he had a beard he looked

a Middle Easterners or so he was wearing a hat black jacket I think he had glasses on like prescription glasses he had a big handgun, and, I mean, shots were just firing. Are you okay? I was closest. The security guard was closest to the front door. The two people handling the cash register were closest to the front door. I was the next person closest to the front door. You're hearing the hero survivor, Matt,

who actually threw a bar stool through a window and tried to help people get out of the deadly shooting scenario. These are teens. You work your whole life to raise your child. There are all the years where you have to change their diapers and give them baths and rush them back and forth to the doctor and take their temperature in the middle of nine, clean up their vomit. Then they move on. They're in school.

Then you have to wash their clothes, make sure they have their homework done, make sure they're eating their veggies and have all their vaccinations. Then they move on to middle school, the whole nother set of issues to help them navigate. Then high school, are they going to get into college? Which college? What can I do to help them do better, make life easier, make life better for them? You finally get them into college. And then this.

There are parents suffering. Parents suffering right now. Parents that wake up in the morning and they discover that this has happened to their child. Listen. They are assuming the worst for my son. So they went in there. They all got out their crazy triage right now, so they don't have any names or anybody that they know. They don't. Listen they. Are assuming the worst for my son, so they went in there. They all got out, but he

didn't come out. So they say where he was where they left. He he went to the bar to get the drinks for everybody, and that's when they heard the shots ringing out and all. We did call the hospital. They don't, they're going through their crazy triage right now. So they don't have any names or anybody that they, they don't want to talk yet. So I haven't been over there. That's my next step is to go there yet. What did they

tell you here? They just take your information and tell you to wait. How was that as a dad? Like I said, I'm pretty emotional. Tell me about Cody. What was Cody's personality? Awesome. We're a very Christian-raised family, and everything, he's a very good kid. You know, he's very good in school.

He's very sports-oriented. He was going into the Army, so we're going to have to wait and see. And with the situation, do you want to answer that? Please answer it. That's just my mom and dad. Okay. I'm like, if you get word, I want you to get it.

Yeah, me too. So he's going into the Army. Yeah. And you talk about these mass shootings that you've been seeing. Did you ever talk to him about things like this? Yeah, that's why I'm very curious right now. Raising, you know, raising him the way we've raised him. Why hasn't he picked up his cell phone, anybody's cell phone, and called home? So I don't understand where we're at at this point.

So you're just in shock right now? I'm actually, yeah, I'm very, very in shock. You're hearing Jason Kaufman. His son Cody was inside the borderline bar. All the friends got out. He can't find Cody. And all I can say right now is, the Lord, please be with Jason Kaufman and Cody.

But we know that at least 12 are dead. We know there are 12 sets of parents, 12 families, devastated right now, at least 12. If you, like so many Americans, woke up and discover the deadly student massacre, it's just overwhelming. To Troy Slayton joining me, a renowned L.A. defense attorney who actually represents the owner of Borderline Bar. Troy, what is your understanding? I woke up to this horrific tragedy just like everybody else and immediately I'm trying to find out as much information as I can. I've texted my client who is the owner, as you said, of the bar. I haven't heard back from him yet. So at this point, I just don't know, and I'm trying to gather the facts. The location of that bar is very

close to my office in Westlake Village, California. Many students from my alma mater, Pepperdine Law School and Pepperdine University were there. And this is just a horrific tragedy that strikes home. I represent, as you know, many, many victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the horrific shooting that took place in Las Vegas about a year ago, October of last year. And many of those same people that were affected by that tragedy in Las Vegas were there last night. Last night was a country night and a college country night. Many students were there just because they wanted to engage in line dancing. Describe this suspect. What does his name look like? So suspects, from like a quick glance of what I saw, he looked like he had a black hat, black glasses,

had a beard. I don't know if he was wearing like a black, it was a black shirt, black glasses, he had a beard. I don't know if he was wearing like a black, it was a black shirt, but I don't know if it was like a jacket or not. But yeah, he didn't even like say anything too. So it all just happened so quick. They were very, very loud gunshots. They were very clear what they were, you know. It was definitely not the music, you know. There were people in the middle dancing and just hanging out and having a good time.

There was some smoke. I mean, I got out of there as fast as I could, so I can't say anything as to what, you know, other people that were in there, you know, had experience with. So as soon as you heard the gunshots, you just took off out the door? No, we got down because I heard people screaming, everyone get down. And, you know, I've never experienced this before, so I'm going to listen to whatever they tell me to do. Very scary, but once, you know, the shots kept going and going and going, we just heard people say run, and we booked it as fast as we could. Many of you across America, people, wake up this morning to learn about a student massacre. At least 12 victims gunned down college students in their teens, including a sheriff's deputy in a horrific, horrific local bar shooting.

You were just hearing an unidentified woman describing hearing gunfire at first, thinking it was part of the music, getting down on the floor and crawling as fast as she could to try to get out. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. And I know it's not politically correct. And I know I'll take the heat. But if you can, join us in a prayer for these families that are suffering right now, learning that their child they have loved so much has died on an innocent night out.

At this hour, police and forensics crews combing the interior of the Borderline bar with me right now. Well known forensics expert, a superstar in her field, Karen Smith joining me out of the Florida jurisdiction. Karen, you've been on so many crime scenes, so many homicide scenes. What are they doing inside the bar now? The first thing they're going to do is rescue anyone that can be rescued. At that point, they're going to go in very methodically. They have time at this point. You know, they're not going to take anyone that suffered a fatal injury out of the bar. They're dealing with the death of one of their own. They're going to have to put their emotions

aside, which is probably the hardest part. At this point, they're dealing with the death of one of their own. They're going to have to put their emotions aside, which is probably the hardest part. Um, at this point, they're going to start documenting everything. Uh, you know, everybody has questions about what the weapon was, how many weapons this man had, what type of weapons they were. That's going to come out. Uh, once the investigation begins, they'll start feeding the information to the public information officer, uh, photography and the information to the public information officer. Photography and videotaping will take place, and then they will start identifying those that remain inside the bar. Karen Smith joining me, forensics expert. You know, you never see this coming. There's no way that you would know this was going to happen. We are learning multiple people, including young students and law enforcement, murdered at a country music bar in Southern California

after a masked gunman wearing all black opens fire on a crowd of teens, opening fire on a crowd of innocent teens from heavily Christian colleges many of them with a black X on their hands to indicate they were not drinking that night the gum and opening fire inside this crowded country music bar late late in the evening a sheriff's deputy down after the deputy rushed inside to confront the shooter the gunfire erupted as people were actually line dancing their college country night that borderline bar and grill and francie haggs former federal prosecutor that made it even more difficult for people to understand what was happening.

It reminds me a great deal of the Orlando shooting. The music's playing. People are out there line dancing. They can't hear what's going on. It's crowded. They can't really see what's happening. It's a highly popular night spot there in Thousand Oaks, California, especially among college students. And the shooter knew that when he went in and opened fire.

He knew he was shooting heavily Christian students from the two local colleges, Francie. No one could understand what was happening around them, Francie. No, you're right, Nancy. It's really horrific when you think about it. This gunman obviously came prepared. He had smoke grenades and is targeting college students who are innocently having a good time at a bar. And the difficult thing now is going to be figuring out exactly what happened. And for law enforcement, they are on the ground desperately trying to ensure that there was not some kind of conspiracy. Are there other people out there? Is this part of a plot?

Another thing we've got to worry about is very often with various shootings where several things happen within a space of time. You know, a certain space of time, like 8 o'clock today, 8 o'clock tomorrow, 8 o'clock the next day, or multiple shootings. You know, a cluster event. That's what they're also looking for. You know, one thing among the many things we're learning this morning about the shooter, Karen Stark, he actually drove his mother's car to the club. And that right there tells me a lot about him. Well, Nancy, I mean, it's just, it's so hard.

I wish we knew more about him. That's part of what happens in these shootings is that it's it's so difficult to get into the mind of what you cause somebody to go out there so so violently and just have such a strong disregard for life and when I was thinking about as you were talking about the children, and I was thinking, look, everyone's going to die sooner or later, but to realize that young lives have been taken without any of what happened to them as it's happening, thinking that they're hearing firecrackers going off, it's just the worst kind of news. Karen Stark, New York psychologist. I'm a little stunned with you right now. Of course everybody's going to die. I know that. But why do you have to die when you're a teen student at Pepperdine

as opposed to when you fall asleep at age 93 and go to sleep and wake up in heaven? Hold on. I'm being joined right now by Cheryl McColl mccollum director of the cold case research institute cheryl you've done along with me and on your own so many profiles of shooters it tells me a lot about this guy he had to drive his mommy's car to the club for a to engage in a mass shooting. He had to drive his mom's car, Cheryl McCollum. Correct. Yeah, this tells you, you know, he probably, by society's standards, is not a very successful person, and he probably understood that as well. Next he picked a soft target and I'm going to say this over and over and over. These mass shooters are pumped. They are weak. So what they do is they pick

churches, they pick clubs, they pick crowds where they're at a you know higher level so that no one can stop them. Nobody can hurt them. So they pick the club with these college kids. There's no guns, and he throws these smoke bombs so nobody can see him and overpower him. He has no victim in mind. It is random. It is whoever gets in the way of that bullet. We are talking right

now about the Thousand Oaks shooting, multiple fatalities at the Borderline Bar, including a sheriff's deputy. It's overwhelming. Listen. I come here a lot. I dance a lot, and I was just dancing, you know, having a good night, normal Wednesday. And my boat was at root, so I know what gunshots sound like. And heard it go off, and it's doing new. I just laid down on the mangroves as I could, trying to pick as many people as I could. And then shooting kept going. They were throwing smoke bombs. And then it kind of, like, hit me, like, okay, time to go to work.

And then I just broke, windows broke, and I just hopped out the window. And I was one of the last people out. I didn't see anybody. I didn't see any guns. And then I just broke, windows broke. I just hopped out the window. And I was one of the last people out. I didn't see anybody. I didn't see any guns. And I just ran. I ran as far as I could, as fast as I could. And then I left up. I'm certified EMT and stuff like that.

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Blinds.com, promo code Nancy. Rules and restrictions do apply. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. They are assuming the worst for my son. So they went in there. They all got out, but he didn't come out. So did they say where he was when they last saw him? He went to the bar to get the drinks for everybody. And that's when they heard the shots ringing out and all panic. Have you gone to the hospital?

We did call the hospital. They don't, they're going through their crazy triage right now, so they don't have any names or anybody that they don't want to talk yet. I haven't been over there. That's my next step is to go there yet. What did they tell you here? They just

take your information and tell you to wait. How was that as a dad? Like I said, I'm pretty emotional. Tell me about Cody. How was that as a dad? Like I said, I'm pretty emotional. Tell me about Cody. What was Cody's personality? Awesome. We're a very Christian-raised family, and everything, he's a very good kid. You know, he's very good in school. He's very sports-oriented. Was going into the Army, so we're going to have to wait and see. And with the situation, do you want to answer that?

Please, answer it. No, that's just my mom. Okay. I'm like, if you get word, I want you to get it. Yeah, me too. So he's going into the Army. Yeah. You talk about these mass shootings that you've been seeing. Did you ever talk to him about things like this?

Yeah, that's why I'm very curious right now. You know, raising him the way we've raised him, why hasn't he picked up a cell phone, anybody's cell phone, and called home? So I don't understand where we're at at this point. I'm actually, yeah, I'm very, very in shock. You're hearing from Jason Kaufman, whose son Cody was inside the Borderline Bar. Right now, our prayers are with the families of not only the students, the victims in this case, but those who are wondering about their loved one, who don't have an answer yet.

If you need information on your loved one, dial 805-465-6650. Repeat, 805-465-6650. Repeat, 805-465-6650. We are learning a lot about the shooter. We are learning that he has been described by an anonymous source as a 29-year-old male armed with a Glock handgun and a smoke device that he drove his mother's car to Borderline Bar, which was crowded with Christian students that night, didn't say a word before opening fire. That tells me a lot. I'm going to circle back to Cheryl Francie and Karen Stark on that because that tells me he had a motive before he went in. He didn't go in and just get in a bar fight and unload. Right now, we know of at least 12 victims dead inside the Borderline Bar. There was, quote, blood everywhere, a horrific

scene, witnesses reporting that gunfire blasted through the club. Those who recognized it as being gunfire ran for cover, in some cases even taking chairs to break open windows to try and get out. Many hid in bathrooms. They found an attic and they frantically began calling their parents, calling their loved ones, telling them they were caught inside. We've got basically a description of the gunman dressed in all black, including a black hat, a black shirt, black glasses. And he seemingly focused his firepower on the front of the bar as soon as he entered, just pulling out a gun and shooting. Shooting, according to a witness.

Many thought it was an unmistakable sound of gunfire. Others thought it was fireworks or maybe part of the music, people hiding under pool tables. To Cheryl McCollum, CSI and director of the Cold Case Research Institute, it's your job to put crime scene cases back together again. The fact that he walked in and started shooting, dressed in all black, tells me he premeditated this. He planned it. He had a vendetta motive.

It wasn't against any one person in particular. What does it tell you, Cheryl? Am I wrong? No, you're dead on. He was ready for battle. He went there with a clear objective to kill as many people as he could without being stopped. That's what he did.

And he will be very, he'll leave a footprint, as it were, on his social media. He's been very vocal. He has not hidden this at all. So what they're going to do today is they're going to go through his computer. They're going to go through his phone. They're going to talk to friends, family, co-workers, if he had jobs here and there, and they're going to start piecing this back together. But the victims were random. This act was not. And Nancy, I'm going to keep my mantra every time we talk about one of these things. Mental health, mental health, mental health.

If we do not get a handle on that, these types of events are not going to stop. But part of that, to Karen Stewart, New York psychologist joining us, she's right. Cheryl McCollum is right. But these people are not legally insane. So there's, i.e., translation, they don't know wrong from right. I may say, oh, you're crazy, or he's crazy. But in the legal sense, he is not mentally insane. In other words, doesn't know right from wrong.

If he did, he wouldn't be dressed in all black so as not to be detected. He wouldn't have snuck in the way he did. He wouldn't have concealed his weapon. He knew what he was doing had consequences. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But to Cheryl McComb's point, what about the Parkland shooting? What about so many other shootings where people have these borderline or full-on personality disorders like a persecution complex or paranoia, or they feel like they're hated, or they feel like they're on the outside looking in.

You know, it goes on and on and on. They're not insane. And I don't know if they can be identified. Cheryl McCollum wants me to just look at a random crowd and go, oh, yeah, number one, number eight, number 50, number 72. You have borderline personality disorder. So I'm going to watch you to make sure you don't do a mass shooting. I think it's impossible.

It's like picking one cornflake out of a box and saying this is the weird one. It is impossible. And they're trying so hard to identify people like this through social media. And look what happens, Nancy. How many times now? Pittsburgh. It just keeps happening over and over again. And then you find in hindsight, that all of this was there, you could have seen it. But no one knows where to look. There are too many things that are happening with social media with the internet. You can't identify a person

like this, because they are not that public. They are not so out there and they are not demonstrably people who have mental illness. And that's part of the problem. They often seem like loners. They don't have friends. There are no ways to really pick these people out of the crowd. That's the problem is that how do we find them? Where would we be able to identify them? Well, I know this. I know that very often people get a vibe, okay? We were just talking about the misogynist shooter who basically adulated Elliot Roger, the virgin killer, who coincidentally was in the Thousand Oaks area as well.

He would spew hate for women and talk about trying to get this date. She didn't show up. Gee, I wonder why. I mean, they put off that vibe that we're talking about. But Francie Hakes, you know, you're the former federal prosecutor. The reality is, and I'm not faulting the government. It's like literally a needle in a haystack. If any of you ever raised in a rural area, finding a needle in a haystack,

yeah, that's not going to happen, okay? So, Francie, we can't even catch the terrorist by monitoring the internet, okay? And we're trying. It's just there's too many of them. And how are we going to catch people with social disorders to try to stop a potential shooting? I don't know if this means anything to these victims this morning. It's just like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I'm hearing, Cheryl, is there a way? You're absolutely right, Nancy. Hate does not equate to criminal activity.

We cannot police thought. Now, there are certainly hate crimes, but that only ever comes after the crime has happened, as we see in the case of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. We will hear eventually what his motive was. Sheryl is absolutely right. There will be a social media footprint. He will have left a note.

There will be writings. There will be text messages. There will be something that will tell us after the fact what he was thinking and why he did what he did. But it is almost impossible for federal authorities who can't really shut down ISIS on Twitter to find those who are going to go on a shooting rampage. He leaves behind a wife and a son. He was a 54-year-old resident of Moore Park, and he epitomized what a cop does. He's a cop's cop. When he heard the gunfire, he ran in. He ran in and no doubt saved others from being victimized.

As a matter of fact, earlier, a young man that was inside the nightclub came up to me and said, you know what, he saved additional people from being victims. And that's what cops do. That's what he did. Ron was a hardworking, dedicated sheriff's sergeant. He was totally committed. He gave his all and tonight, as I told his wife, he died a hero because he went, he went in to save lives, to save other people. Sergeant Healis died at the... The sergeant passed away at the hospital about an hour ago. I only mentioned it might be terrorists because that's where we all go these days when we have multiple shootings like this. There's no reason for it, and we have this horrific death. I have nothing to lead me to believe or the FBI that there is any terrorism link here,

but we certainly will look at that option. You are hearing Ventura County Sheriff Jeff Dean announcing the death of his comrade, Sergeant Ron Helus, who leaves behind a wife and family just 54 years old, running into Borderline Bar and Grill to try and save other people. Again, I know it's not PC, but please join me in prayer for the victims and their families. As they woke up this morning to discover their child was shot down on an innocent night out on student night at a country restaurant and bar. Joining me, Alan Duke in L.A. Alan, I think it's very indicative, very probative as to who he shot first.

Several of the witnesses we've heard from so far say the first person shot was the hostess, a woman who was at the front door of the Borderline Grill, who everybody knew because she was there every night. She was the first person shot. Then it was the doorman, the security person also standing near the door. And then they also say he went behind the bar and started shooting. Right now, parents trying to determine where their child is. The hospital's in triage right now, even now, as they try to determine who's dead and who is alive. Karen Smith, a forensics expert, joining me. It's so important that the crime scene be handled delicately.

The removal of bodies is a horrible, a daunting task. Yeah, it is. It's heartbreaking. And once they identify those that are inside, they are, like Sharon McCollum said, they're going to dig into the shooter's social media. They're going to execute a search warrant at his residence and find out if there's any evidence left there of a footprint, of notes, of any other weapons. You know, just from experience, I can guarantee you there's more. There's going to be a treasure trove of information on both of those fronts. And, you know, these officers, these investigators that are going to work this scene, they're going to carry this with them for the rest of their lives as well. And I know their hearts are breaking

for the victims and for their colleagues. This just months after 58 people killed at a country music festival in Vegas when a lone gunman opens fire in the Mandalay. Now, some people at the borderline bar at college night had also apparently survived the shooting in Vegas. What about it? Troy Slayton joining me, L.A. defense attorney who actually represents the owner of Borderline Bar.

What about it, Troy? Well, luckily, Nancy, I can report that I just heard from my friend and client who is the owner of Borderline Bar. He just texted me and let me know that he was okay he arrived at the bar right as the shooting was occurring and helped drag some people to safety this was a country western night at borderline bar i don't know if any of my clients were there last night yet it's still too early this is a horrific event most Most people, Nancy, don't even experience something like this once in their lifetime. And for people to experience this twice in about a year's time has got to be emotionally and psychologically devastating. Listen to a witness. Where I was looking at the time was at the front door and I saw the suspect walk in and basically pull out his gun and let off the first couple shots at the girl that was working the front desk.

And immediately I was in shock. I was like, oh my gosh, this is really happening right now. And I immediately just went down to the floor just to get covered, make sure I was safe, and just the people that I was with. And I started crawling on the floor until I was able to have access to run out the door. And then when I started running out the door, I heard more gunshots behind me, so I didn't know if they were coming toward me or not. So I just took off in a full sprint. The first call of shots fired came in around 11.20 p.m., according to Ventura County Sheriff Jeff Dean. The gunman we

believe shot a hostess that worked there all the time. A witness Holden Hara tells us that he sees the same hostess the same girl every time he's there friendly sweet outgoing then shoots a bouncer clearly so he won't be stopped apparently using a short barreled handgun with a black trench coat eyeglasses black beard drove his mommy's car to the scene it's overwhelming to those that have suffered this tremendous, tremendous loss. Were there warning signs? We don't know. But what we do know is that grieving families all around the country are mourning now. Sheriff Sergeant Ron Helus killed in this Thousand Oaks attack,

leaving behind a wife and a son. We know that most of the victims were between 21 and 23, coming from local Christian schools. Listen right now to your county sheriff, Jeff Dean. The suspect was identified as Ian David Long. He was 28 years old. We've had several contacts with Mr. Long over the years. In April of this year, deputies were called to his house for a subject disturbing. They went to the house. They talked to him. He was somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally. They called out our crisis intervention team, our mental health specialist, who met with him, talked to him, and cleared him, didn't feel that he was qualified to be taken under 5150.

It appears he walked up to the scene. He shot the security guard that was standing outside. He stepped inside. It appears that he turned to the right and shot several of the other security and employees there and then began opening fire inside the nightclub. We have no idea what the motive was at this point. Despite the 5150 hold?

The 5150 hold was never placed on him. The crisis, the crisis, the mental health experts out there cleared him that day. He was, he is a veteran, he was in the United States Marine Corps. Did you hear he may be suffering from PTSD? Did your crisis team? I understand that was part of the discussion when the deputies went out to the call with the crisis team that felt he might be suffering from PTSD, basing that on the fact that he was a veteran and had been in the Corps. Can you clarify any more on how the deputy was shot? When Sergeant Helus and the higher patrol officer went in, they immediately exchanged gunfire with the suspect,

and that's when Sergeant Helus was shot several times. Do you know when the suspect was shot? No, I have no idea. Do you know when the suspect was shot? If he shot himself or how he died? We believe he shot himself. When the officers went in and made reentry, they found him already deceased. Where inside the bar was he found?

How long before? He was found inside an office just adjacent to the entry to the bar. It's our understanding that Sergeant Helus was able to call his wife right before he ran into the bar? Sergeant Helus was having a conversation with his wife on the phone, as he does several times during the shift, and said to her, hey, I've got to go handle the call. I love you. I'll talk to you later. Any indication that he may have been targeting employees of his staff? No, there's no indication that he targeted the employees, or we haven't found any correlation. We'll probably know more after we execute the search warrant at his house that maybe there was a motive for this particular night, but at this point, we have no

information leading to that at all. This is how it sounded on police radios. Eight shots. The weapon was a black semi-automatic. He does not have a description. The subject was at the front shooting everybody. He's still inside the bar. Yes, you're responding to the borderline. We have one victim advised. He was shot and is bleeding at the entrance. 4-7-3, we've got multiple people down. We need a lot of ambulances. Three, at least five down inside.

Yes, at the borderline. We're at the borderline with some witnesses and victims that are inside the bathroom. We have people. He's in the attic with nine other people at the borderline. That police radio, courtesy of Broadcastify. Listen to this man who was in the bar with his stepson as the shooting started. While he describes what he saw, you can hear his feelings of guilt for not being able to stop the gunman. He shot the cashier, just a young girl.

And then he started moving to the right. He wasn't looking at us. And he went into the office where all the cash and stuff is. He didn't say anything at all. He just started shooting and I should have stayed until he changed his clip. But I was worried about my boy.

But I should have stayed. I apologize to anybody who got hurt or passed. I'm sorry. It's fine. There's not much you could have done in a situation like that. They're all young.

I'm 56. I lived a life. They're all young. This shouldn't have happened to them. And it was just some low life. Taking lives that shouldn't have been taken. Could you tell what kind of weapon he was using? He had a handgun.

I could tell it was a loud, maybe a.44, maybe a little smaller, but it had a good ring to it. And it was just loud, and he had smoke. He was trying to confuse people. And then he went to the right and just started shooting on the dance floor. And there was just young people, like young, 18, 19, 20, just having a great time.

And this maniac came in and started shooting people for no reason at all. These people have never hurt anybody in their lives. And they're just kids. They're just kids. I'm so sorry. So you two just got out of there as quick as you could.

Could you tell how long the firing was going on? It was constant until he changed the clips. If you have information or if you need information on your loved one, please dial 805-465-6650. 805-465-6650. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off.

Goodbye, friend.