At least 12 people, including a police officer, are dead after a gunman opened fire inside a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, late Wednesday night.
There were reportedly hundreds of people at the Borderline Bar & Grill, which had been hosting a college country night. Pepperdine University, which is located about 30 minutes away, tweeted that some of its students were at the bar at the time of the shooting.
Authorities say more than 20 others were reportedly injured in the incident. They said some of the wounded were injured trying to escape the bar.
"All we really saw was just smoke and we saw the shots taking off, so we just tried to get down as fast as we could and get out of there," Kayla Simmons, who was inside the bar at the time of the shooting, said.
The Ventura County sheriff told reporters the officer who died, Sgt. Ron Helus, was one of the first to respond Wednesday night. Helus was reportedly planning to retire in the next year.
"He gave his all, and tonight, as I told his wife, he died a hero because he went in to save lives, to save other people," Sheriff Geoff Dean said.
Authorities identified the suspected gunman Thursday as 28-year-old Ian David Long. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had previous interactions with police. He was found dead inside the bar. No motive has been released.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
