Former Marine Ian Long, 28, [L-R]is the gunman who opened fire on Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on Wednesday.

The gunman who massacred 12 people at a country music bar in southern California on Wednesday night has been identified as an highly decorated ex-Marine.
Ian Long, 28, opened fire on the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks at 11.20pm. Long had been cleared by mental health experts after an incident in his home in April, sheriffs revealed on Thursday morning.
He killed 11 people inside the bar and one of the first cops on the scene before taking his own life.
Long’s motive remains unclear but neighbors say he was known to suffer PTSD. He served in the Marines for five years between 2008 and 2013, during which time he was awarded 10 medals and toured Afghanistan.
Survivors from the shooting said he looked ‘like he knew what he was doing’ as he repeatedly fired his legally purchased Glock .45 handgun on Wednesday night.
As dozens ran for their lives, hid beneath pool tables and used bar stools to shatter the windows to escape, Long continued firing and also threw smoke grenades to confuse the crowds.

Police and EMTs treat a victim from the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill on Wednesday night

When the first police officers arrived at the scene three minutes later, Long shot one of them multiple times before shooting himself.
By the time SWAT teams arrived, he was dead. His body was found in an office inside the bar. The sheriff’s sergeant who was shot later died in hospital. He was Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran.
In total, 13 are dead; 11 people who were killed inside the bar, the sheriff’s sergeant and the gunman. Long is a former Marine who lived in nearby Newbury Park.
In April this year, deputies were called to his home amid reports of a disturbance.  He was acting ‘irrationally’ and was ‘irate’ so police called in their mental health specialist.

During his time in the Marines, he was awarded numerous awards including two Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, a Combat Action Ribbon, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the National Defense Service Medal and the NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan. After leaving the Marines, he took a job with California State University Northridge where he attended classes as a student until 2016.
A former college roommate described him as ‘a “weird” loner who practiced dance moves alone in his garage’  , according to Blake Winnett who shared an apartment with Long in 2014 while he was a student at Northridge.

Shooter Ian David Long during his student days. Circa 2016 while studying at California State University Northridge, where he was majoring in athletic training. He dropped out after three years in 2016

‘He didn’t want to help anyone do anything. He was just lazy I guess,’ he claimed, adding that he once responded: ‘That’s not my f****** job’ when Winnett asked him to take out the trash.
‘He wasn’t violent but he was mean. He would go to the gym and then he would, I guess, try to learn dance moves or something.
‘He would close the garage and be playing music and dancing in there, like sweating. I would open the garage and would be like, “What are you doing?”‘ he said.
Long dropped out of the university in 2016 after three years. He had been studying athletic training. Sometime after dropping out of college, he returned to his mother’s home in Newbury Park.
One neighbor recalled the shooter’s fits of rage, noting that his mother ‘lived in fear’ that something would happen to him.

Richard Berge, 77, said Long had smashed furniture and kicked in walls inside the family’s house and that his mother, Colleen, was afraid the problem would escalate.
‘She lived in fear in case something happened,’ Berge said.
‘He wouldn’t get help. She was beside herself and didn’t know what to do.’
He and other neighbors described an incident in April this year, when a neighbor called the police after hearing loud crashes coming from Long’s house.
Berge said multiple police cars rushed to the home and found Long had kicked holes in the walls and broken furniture.
The house was surrounded by police and FBI officers, and cordoned off with red crime scene tape by Thursday morning, as investigators were waiting Thursday morning for a judge to sign a warrant to search the home.
Long reportedly, was dressed in all-black, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a mask covering the bottom part of his face. He walked up to the entrance at 11.20pm and shot the bouncer before making his way into the venue.

‘The University has determined that multiple Pepperdine students were on site at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks. At this time, the University is working to identify and provide support to those students.
A spokesman for California Lutheran University also confirmed their loss stating ‘The Cal Lutheran community is grieving over what happened last night. We know some of our students were there.

Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said the scene was the worst he had seen in 41 years.
‘It’s a horrific scene in there, there is blood everywhere and the suspect is part of that, and I didn’t want to get that close and disturb the scene and possibly disturb the investigation.
‘This, by far, is the most horrific thing I’ve seen in my 41 years,’ he said. Dean was due to retire on Thursday, the day after the shooting.
He and Helus were friends and worked out together.
Paying tribute to him, he said: ‘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; he went into save lives, to save other people.’
Classes at California Lutheran, which is also nearby, were cancelled.
People were hiding from the shooter in bathrooms and attic spaces, while others who managed to escape fled to nearby gas stations for medical help.

Witnesses said the gunman said ‘nothing’ as he opened fire and was composed throughout the massacre.
‘I was just dancing normally and I heard what I thought was a balloon pop. I was confused then I heard it a couple more times then I turned around and I saw him.
‘I ran to the nearest exit and tripped and fell on the way I knocked on as many doors as I could until someone would answer me and finally someone did.
The bar is popular among country music and dancing fans. On Wednesday night, under 21s are allowed into enjoy the music and they are required to wear black X’s on their hands
‘College students go there, high school seniors go there, elderly people go there. Everyone who loves country goes there,’ she said.

The bar [photo], is popular among country music and dancing fans.

On Wednesday night, patrons under 21s are allowed into enjoy the music and they are required to wear black X’s on their hands

Several minutes after the gunman opened fire, a SWAT team arrived and found the 11 victims dead inside.
Several people are still unaccounted for including 22-year-old Cody Coffman whose father Jason is missing like Jake Dunham [photo, right], flocked to the bar after he heard the news to find him.
‘I want my son. I want to know. I’m not.. if the Lord took him away, we know that he’s in a better place but if he’s not, please let us know. Let me know.
‘I am clueless on what’s going on,’ Cody’s father Jason wept outside the bar.
Other parents have done the same and have used looked to their kids’ iPhones locations to try to find them. Their devices are still inside the bar and they have not been heard from since the shooting happened./
There were 100 people inside the bar when the gunman opened fire, police said, and the number of casualties is ‘very likely’ to go up.
Witnesses reported a horrifying scene as gunfire echoed through the club and those inside ran for cover, in some cases breaking windows with chairs and other pieces of furniture to get out of the building.
Local hospitals have been inundated with victims who’ve transported themselves to emergency rooms with injuries seeking medical help.
One witness, who was at the bar with his step-son, described the sequence of events. He said:  ‘He shot the front doorman, who was just a young man.
‘Then he shot the cashier, just a young girl. Then he started moving to the right. He wasn’t looking at us. Then he went into the office, where all the cash and stuff is.
‘He didn’t say anything at all. He just started shooting.’