At least 12 people have been killed, including a police officer, at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California.<\/p>\n
The shooting began at 23:20 local time on Wednesday about 40 miles (65km) north-west of Los Angeles, police say.<\/p>\n
At least 200 people were reportedly inside the Borderline Bar and Grill at the time of the attack.<\/p>\n
Officials say the suspect was found dead inside and have not identified him. They do not yet know his motive for the shooting.<\/p>\n
A college country music night was under way when the suspect, apparently dressed in black, entered the bar and opened fire.<\/p>\n
Reports say the suspect may have used smoke grenades and at least one weapon, described as a semi-automatic handgun by witnesses.<\/p>\n
A injured man told local television channel KTLA: “We just dropped to the ground, we heard a lot of screaming. My friend is the DJ so she cut off the music, we just heard a lot of mayhem.”<\/p>\n
Another witness from inside, Teylor Whittler, said: “I was on the dance floor and I heard the gunshots, so I looked back and then all of a sudden everyone screamed: Get Down!”<\/p>\n
“It was a huge panic, everyone got up, I was trampled, I was kind of left on the floor until some guy came behind me and grabbed me and dragged me out.”<\/p>\n
People reportedly escaped the bar by using chairs to break windows, while others reportedly sheltered inside the venue’s toilets.<\/p>\n
Ventura County Sherrif Geoff Dean described the scene inside the bar as “horrific” and said there was “blood everywhere”.<\/p>\n
He said first responders had arrived just three minutes after the first emergency calls from the venue were made.<\/p>\n
Ventura Sheriff’s Sergeant Ron Helus, who later died in hospital, had tried to enter the active scene with a local highway patrolman when he was shot several times.<\/p>\n
The husband and father-of-one had been a policeman for 29 years and was due to retire next year.<\/p>\n
“It saddens us all and tears at our emotions. He died a hero. He went in to save lives, to save other people,” the Sherriff said.<\/p>\n
Police say they recovered a handgun inside the bar and found the suspect dead inside.<\/p>\n
They believe he may have taken his own life but have not confirmed this.<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear who the other 11 victims inside the bar are, but the Wednesday night country music event is popular with local university students.<\/p>\n
Footage on local media of the aftermath shows injured people being carried away from the scene by their friends.<\/p>\n
Police say at least 10 people are known to have been injured and others are self-reporting with injuries at local hospitals.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"