Mass Shooter Slaughters 12 at Bar

A gunman opened fir in a crowded California bar early Thursday morning, police say. It is unclear at this time whether the handgun he used was posessed legally, or whether he was in violation of California’s strict gun control laws. He was almost certainly carrying illegally, given California’s strict policy on carry permits.

WMTW reports:

A law enforcement official says authorities have identified the gunman and the handgun he used to kill 12 people at a Southern California bar Thursday crowded with hundreds of people on “college night.”

The official told The Associated Press the man was 29 years old and deployed a smoke device and used a .45-caliber handgun when he opened fire inside the Borderline Bar & Grill late Wednesday in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles.

Authorities did not say how the gunman died. Sheriff Geoff Dean of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said it’s not known whether there’s a terrorism link.

Authorities and witnesses say the gunman wore dark clothing and didn’t say anything as he fired inside the bar. Hundreds of people fled, some breaking windows and jumping out of second-floor windows to escape.