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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – When the first shots were fired at Borderline Bar & Grill, David Anderson immediately knew he was in the middle of a mass shooting. He had lived through one last year.
Anderson survived the attack at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017 that left 58 people dead. On Wednesday, he still survived a gunman indiscriminately firing at people enjoying country music, this time at college night at a well-loved bar. Twelve people were killed.
Numerous Borderline regulars watched, and survived, Las Vegas shooting.
"Vegas Strong" shirts were often spotted at the bar. Patrons gathered here for healing and community. The were a "family," as Anderson described it.
Now, 13 months later, a lot of chaos of a mass shooting, with memories of the first terrifying experience of their actions in another scene of carnage.
"I was at the Las Vegas Route 91 mass shooting, or more than 50 or 60 others who were in there at the same time as me," Nicholas Champion said in a television interview. "We're all a big family, and unfortunately this family got hit twice."
[Once again, Nashville faces horrific mass shooting involving country music fans]
Molly Maurer shared her feelings on Facebook about being a two-time survivor:
"I can not believe I'm saying this again. I'm alive and safe, "she wrote.
In Las Vegas, Anderson stood near the stage, on the same side of the field as the Mandalay Bay hotel, where a gunman fired shots of the windows of his suite. Anderson saw a man on his face. When the gunman stopped shooting, Anderson and his group of friends ran to an exit and two miles to their hotel.
On Wednesday, he was standing in front of the bar facing the door.
He saw the gunman walk, take a military-like stance and fire. He ducked behind the bar and, when the gunman
"It was just a surreal shock, the shock factor," he said.
When Megan Greene came home after surviving Route 91, she could not stand being in the dark. She scratched her legs raw from the anxiety.
Days later, she started participating in a weekly ritual: college night at Borderline. She was grateful to be so many who were close to her, and many were fellow survivors. But she was also anxious; she ran into a corner, curled up a ball and cried during a song where people clapped.
She greeted in California, but Greene said in a text message that she was "too surreal."
Carl Edgar told the Los Angeles Times that he is a regular at the bar and knows about 20 people inside on Wednesday.
"A lot of my friends survived Route 91," Edgar said. "If they survived that, they will survive this."
Anderson said the Las Vegas shooting made him feel more aware of his surroundings and people who might seem suspicious.
"It did not change me a little bit," he said.
It also made a difference in its belief that an armed, well-trained shooter could make a difference in situations like this. Anderson grew up with an avid hunter. He believes that guns, if used responsibly, could help.
"If the right people were there, it could make a difference," he said.
[Invisible wounds of Las Vegas shooting could affect tens of thousands]
Others felt differently. Susan Orfanos said in a television interview that her son, Telemachus, was killed at Borderline after surviving Las Vegas.
"My son was in Las Vegas with a lot of his friends, and he came home. He did not come home last night, "she said. "I do not want prayers; I do not want thoughts; I want gun control, and I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns. "
Telemachus Orfanos, 27, lived with his parents in Thousand Oaks and worked at a local Infiniti dealership. He was a veteran of the Navy.
"It's a cruel thing to survive the worst mass shooting in the country, and then to be killed in another year," his father, Marc, said in an interview with The Post. "It defies logic."
His had been suffering from psoriasis, Marc Orfanos said.
"He felt fortunate, but also horrified at what he had seen," he said.
In Las Vegas, Telemachus Orfanos not only survived the massacre – but helped paramedics pull those who have been injured by gunfire from danger.
"Tel easily saved hundreds of lives," said Brendan Hoolihan, 21, who puts Orfanos for the first time amidst the mayhem at Route 91 concert. The two young men who have become teammates, who live in the city of Mandalay Bay and later assisting victims in the Tropicana resort.
By the end of the night, they were covered in blood.
For the last year, Hoolihan and Orfanos has developed a friendship, talking on the phone and having a good time. They'd be merged friend groups and "picked each other up nonstop."
On Thursday, Hoolihan drove several hours from his home in Santa Ana to wait for attention at Thousand Oaks City Hall for the Borderline victims. Hoolihan wore a Route 91 T-shirt and choked up when spoke of his friendship with Orfanos.
"It's insane the kind of bond you can have with someone instantly," Hoolihan said, crying. "I consider him my brother."
Orfanos' s mother, Hoolihan tracked down her number Thursday.
"I wanted to give her a call and tell her how much her meant to me," he said.
Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed reporting from Washington.
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