Report: Thousand Oaks Shooter Hated College Kids

Ventura County Sheriff's Office releases extensive report
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 2, 2021 2:07 AM CDT
Likely Motive Revealed in Borderline Mass Shooting
In this Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, file photo, people comfort each other as they stand near the scene in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where a gunman opened fire Wednesday inside a country dance bar crowded with hundreds of people on "Country College Night."   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

The gunman who shot up a Southern California bar and grill in 2018, leaving a dozen people dead, hated college students, police say. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office released an extensive report on the shooting at Thousand Oaks' Borderline Bar & Grill Wednesday revealing a possible motive of Ian David Long, who killed 11 patrons and himself. (He also shot a police officer who was ultimately killed by friendly fire in the chaos.) Long, a Marine Corps veteran, attended California State University, Northridge, after completing his military service, and the report says he felt his fellow students disrespected him due to his service, NBC News reports.

Long, the report says, came to believe college students "were entitled, liberal civilians who literally had no knowledge, understanding, or comprehension of what he had experienced in war," and that they should be "wiped off the map." He also felt disdain toward civilians in general, the AP reports. Borderline, a bar known for country music and dancing, was hosting a "Country College Night" when Long committed the mass shooting, and seven of those killed were college students. Authorities say Long visited the establishment five times in less than a year prior to the shooting and likely knew the bar and dance floor would be crowded with college students at the time. (A former coach says warnings about Long were ignored.)

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