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THE gunman who shot and killed 12 people inside a packed California bar has been identified as 29-year-old Ian Long, according to a report.
Long died in the melee, but it’s not yet clear how, officials said.
The heavily tattooed gunman was identified by police to NBC News, reports the New York Post.
It has also emerged that Long used a .45-calibre handgun to carry out the carnage inside Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks.
The country-themed venue was filled with university students when Long tossed a smoke bomb and opened fire at around 11.20pm local time (6.20pm AEDT).
Long purchased the gun in Ventura County, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The identification process took longer than usual because the suspect wasn’t carrying a driver’s license or ID at the time, NBC News said.
Long’s motive was unclear, but Sheriff Geoff Dean said there was no evidence the slaughter was linked to terrorism.
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to offer condolences after the shooting.
Mr Trump said on Twitter that he had been “fully briefed on the terrible shooting.”
He praised police, saying “Great bravery shown by police” and said “God bless all of the victims and families of the victims.”
‘GET DOWN’
Patrons screamed in fear, shouted “Get down!” and used barstools to smash second-floor windows and jump to safety as gunfire erupted at the bar, a popular hangout for uni students.
The dead included 11 people inside the bar and a sheriff’s sergeant who was the first policeman inside the door, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said.
“It’s a horrific scene in there,” Sheriff Dean said in the bar’s car park. “There’s blood everywhere.”
Survivors of the shooting in described moments of panic and heroism as the gunman turned a dance floor into a killing zone.
Nineteen-year-old Tayler Whitler says she was dancing and her friends were at a table by the door as the gunman opened fire.
Ms Whitler said she heard people yell, “get down!”, and then silence for a couple seconds, before she heard someone say, “get up, he’s coming!”.
Ms Whitler also said “people were trampling on each other to get out”.
Nineteen-year-old Erika Sigman found herself hiding with a group of strangers, holding her hands.
“There’s a lot of bad in this world, but there is also a lot of good and people will help,” Ms Sigman said.
Other people described jumping out of windows, piling on top of each other in the bathrooms or hiding under pool tables.
A sobbing girl at the scene said she and about 15 others used bars stools to break windows and get out.
I have been fully briefed on the terrible shooting in California. Law Enforcement and First Responders, together with the FBI, are on scene. 13 people, at this time, have been reported dead. Likewise, the shooter is dead, along with the first police officer to enter the bar….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2018
….Great bravery shown by police. California Highway Patrol was on scene within 3 minutes, with first officer to enter shot numerous times. That Sheriff’s Sergeant died in the hospital. God bless all of the victims and families of the victims. Thank you to Law Enforcement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2018
“Borderline’s a family,” she said, referring to the popular bar. “We all know each other, we’re all friends.”
Another survivor told local media the gunman was wearing a black hoodie and holding a handgun when he opened fire.
Uni student Cole Knapp, who attends the nearby Moorpark College, was inside the Borderline Bar & Grill when the shooting began.
Mr Knapp said he yelled for people to take cover and fled through an exit door to a closed patio where he told people “everybody get over the fence as quickly as you can,” and followed them over.
Mr Knapp said he found a highway patrol officer nearby who just happened to be pulling someone over, and he screamed to him, “There’s a shooter in there!”
Mr Knapp described the officer as being “kind of in disbelief,” then saw he was serious. The student revealed he has friends who haven’t been accounted for.
The mbadacre was the deadliest mbad shooting in the US since 17 students and teachers were slain at a Parkland, Florida, high school nine months ago.
It also came less than two weeks after a gunman killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. That, it turn, closely followed the series of pipe bombs mailed to critics of President Donald Trump.
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