Thousand Oaks shooting video, 911 calls released after court battle

Emergency calls and video footage from a 2018 mass shooting at a country-western bar were released by Ventura County, Calif., on Tuesday following a court battle led by the Los Angeles Times.

The shooting on Nov. 7, 2018, in Thousand Oaks left 12 people dead at Borderline Bar and Grill, which was hosting a college country music night. The shooter also died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Ventura County released more than 90 emergency calls and 12 body camera and security videos on Tuesday, according to the Times.

The Times had requested relevant video and audio from the shooting, but officials refused to release certain documents such as 911 recordings and body camera footage from officers at the scene, the Times reported. 

As a result, the newspaper, along with the Associated Press and the publisher of the Ventura County Star, sued Ventura County in April 2019. 

“I have a bullet wound right here,” a 911 caller can be heard saying to an operator in one of the calls, according to the Times. “I have my best friend shot.”

“I’m in the bathroom,” another woman whispered. “I no longer hear the shots being fired.”

Some of the graphic footage also showed the moments when Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Ron Helus, who was one of the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene, entered the bar.

Helus and California Highway Patrol Officer Todd Barrett were quickly met with gunfire from the shooter, Ian David Long, who was a former U.S. Marine. After firing 61 rounds inside the bar, Long later killed himself, the Times added.

Some relatives of those killed have objected to the release of certain documents and continue to oppose making autopsy information public, the newspaper also reported.