California sheriff’s office releases body-worn camera footage showing people hiding from a gunman

A California sheriff’s office has released the 911 calls it received from frantic bargoers as a gunman opened fire and killed a dozen people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, four years ago.

The frantic calls made on November 7, 2018 reveal how some patrons at the Borderline Bar and Grill hid from Ian David Long, 28, after he opened fire at the bar, while others ran away.

Body camera footage also captured some of the patrons running frantically towards sheriff’s deputies in Thousand Oaks as they begged for help.

‘Help me please,’ one woman was heard creaming. ‘He’s shooting.’

As lines rang off the hook at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, another woman reporting the shooting whispered, ‘We’re hiding. The guy’s probably still here,’ as another man said he was ‘upside down’ so he could not see. 

One man also told dispatchers he saw several people were dead, noting that they were ‘hit and they’re down,’ and another victim told dispatchers: ‘I’ve been hit, I’m bleeding everywhere, people are running everywhere. This is not good.’ 

Victims were able to describe the suspect as a white male wearing a black hat, a black shirt and blue jeans, as they continued to run from the scene, with body camera footage capturing them running to officers outside.

When a dispatcher asked another woman if she saw the shooting, she responded: ‘It’s still happening!’

A shirtless man and two others carry an injured person out of the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 7, 2018 after Long opened fire at 11.20pm. Eleven people inside the bar were killed along with a sheriff’s deputy who was one of the first on the scene. Long then took his own life

Witnesses and survivors comforted each other as they stood near the scene of the shooting at the at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California in 2018

Witnesses and survivors comforted each other as they stood near the scene of the shooting at the at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California in 2018

Several of those who were at the bar that night could be heard frantically running from the scene as they begged authorities to respond.

The first calls came in at around 11:19pm that night, with one man saying he heard six to eight gunshots. 

Ian David Long, a former Marine, opened gunfire at a Thousand Oaks bar on November 7, 2018, killing 11 victims before turning the gun on himself

Ian David Long, a former Marine, opened gunfire at a Thousand Oaks bar on November 7, 2018, killing 11 victims before turning the gun on himself

At one point, officers are seen entering the establishment where one officer, who was later identified as Sgt. Ronald Helus, fatally shot by another officer who tried to take aim at Long. 

The calls and footage were released on Tuesday, following a court fight by the Associated Press and other news outlets who sought the evidence under public record laws.

It was previously documented in a 400-page report on the shooting that was released in July, CBS News reports, but this is the first time the audio and video files have been made public from the harrowing incident.  

One group of people even stopped by the deputies outside as they received reports from inside the bar, apparently leaning against a police car as he held an open gunshot wound.

The deputies on the scene told him that an ambulance would soon be arriving to aide the victims. 

Body-cam footage from the shooting that night showed people running from the scene

Body-cam footage from the shooting that night showed people running from the scene

One man was seen leaning against a police car, apparently injured

One man was seen leaning against a police car, apparently injured

Video released on Tuesday also showed Sgt. Helus decide to approach the building with two other cops in tow, finding several victims outside, before they were caught on surveillance footage entering the bar and grill and were ambushed by Long, who was hiding inside.

The surveillance footage, which was publicly released in 2020, offers a multi-angle view of the inside and outside of the restaurant as the events unfold.  

Long could be seen in the video dressed in black waiting in a back office of the bar and watching on video monitors as the officers arrive. 

Sgt. Ron Helus (above) was accidentally shot dead by a fellow officer who had joined him in the firefight that night

Sgt. Ron Helus (above) was accidentally shot dead by a fellow officer who had joined him in the firefight that night

As they entered and made their way past the dimly-lit front desk area, they are quickly ambushed by a hail of bullets, sending them fleeing.

At one point, grainy footage shows Long from behind leaning over a counter at the bar’s entrance and shooting at the officers.  

Helus, 54, had returned Long’s fire from inside the dark and smoky bar and was moving back out the front door when his feet got tangled in a rope and he tumbled to the ground, the video shows.  

California highway patrolman Todd Barrett had already exited and was firing at Long, who was still inside. When Helus stood up, one of Barrett’s rounds hit him in the chest.  

Helus was shot five times by Long, but the medical examiner determined shortly after the incident that the sergeant was killed by a sixth bullet fired by Barrett that pierced his heart.

Despite being shot, Helus still managed to return fire while retreating, prosecutors said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

Helus, a 29-year veteran of the department, was close to retirement when he was killed. He is survived by a wife and son.  

Helus and his partner California highway patrolman Todd Barrett passed through the dimly-lit front desk at the restaurant as they searched for Long, who was hiding

Helus and his partner California highway patrolman Todd Barrett passed through the dimly-lit front desk at the restaurant as they searched for Long, who was hiding

Helus was shot five times by Long, but the medical examiner determined that the sergeant was killed by a sixth bullet fired by Barrett that pierced his heart

Helus was shot five times by Long, but the medical examiner determined that the sergeant was killed by a sixth bullet fired by Barrett that pierced his heart

After gunfire rings out, Helus is hit but he still manages to return fire while retreating. He is seen falling to the ground as he exits the bar

After gunfire rings out, Helus is hit but he still manages to return fire while retreating. He is seen falling to the ground as he exits the bar

Long had served in the Marines in Afghanistan and reportedly felt that college students disdained veterans. He had targeted the bar that night because it was students’ night, officials have said. 

He had started shooting at patrons and employees within seconds of arriving that night around 11pm. Panicked revelers ran for the doors, dived under tables and piled on top of each other in an effort to dodge the gunfire. 

Others ran for their lives through other exits or broke through windows and jumped out, injuring themselves in the flight.

He then took a tactical position and lay in wait for the officers, investigators said. 

The 28-year-old gunman, who wasn’t hit by either officer’s gunfire, fatally shot himself after the firefight, which lasted a total of 22 seconds.

A report found both officers acted lawfully when they fired their weapons. 

The report concluded that Barrett ‘honestly and reasonably believed’ that he and Helus, along with another responding officer, highway patrol Officer Lidia Espinoza, faced imminent threat of death or great bodily injury when they responded to reports of gunfire at around 11.20pm that Wednesday, the report said. 

Prosecutors concluded Barrett’s and Helus’ use of deadly force against Long was justified as a lawful act of self-defense and defense of others.

In addition, Barrett’s accidental shooting of Helus was justified and not criminal, the report found.

Surveillance footage complied by the Ventura County's District Attorney's Office offers a multi-angle view of the officers entering the restaurant as Long waited inside the office

Surveillance footage complied by the Ventura County’s District Attorney’s Office offers a multi-angle view of the officers entering the restaurant as Long waited inside the office

An annotated still of the footage shows the officers' positions outside

An annotated still of the footage shows the officers’ positions outside

An 87-page report commissioned by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has since found that the officers who were guarding the perimeter failed to position themselves appropriately and ‘there was no coordinated communication’ between them.

‘Body-worn camera and radio transmissions support that none of the perimeter deputies moved to position themselves in a manner that would support the officers involved in the gun battle,’ the report, which released last March, reads.

‘Further, there was no coordinated communication or response developed or communicated in the minutes after the shots were fired.’

The report made 30 recommendations, most of which focused on improving communications between officers on the scene, as well as improving dispatch procedure.

‘This mass shooting painfully demonstrated that these threats can occur anywhere, at any time, and that law enforcement agencies everywhere must be prepared to respond.’ 

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk