Sheriff's sergeant was fatally shot by friendly fire in the Thousand Oaks bar shooting

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

(CNN) — The sheriff's sergeant who initially responded to last month's mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, was fatally shot by gunfire from a California Highway Patrol officer, officials said Friday.

Sgt. Ron Helus was struck five times by gunfire from the suspect, Ian David Long, according to Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub, but was hit by a sixth bullet from a CHP officer's rifle.

Helus could have potentially survived the five wounds from Long's weapon, but the sixth bullet, fired by the CHP officer who entered the bar with Helus, proved fatal. It struck Helus in the chest and his heart, according to Dr. Christopher Young, the Ventura County medical examiner.

"This is sad news and a tragedy," Young said, "but ultimately this was the most severe injury sustained."

-snip-

By Dakin Andone and Stella Chan, CNN
Updated 2016 GMT (0416 HKT) December 7, 2018


Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/07/us/ron-helus-california-highway-patrol-thousand-oaks-shooting/index.html

[Ciaphas Cain]

1. Sad

Sounds like victim cop wandered into the line of fire.

Poor communication kills.

[Demit]

2. What's your basis for saying the victim cop "wandered" into the line of fire?

[Ciaphas Cain]

5. I should have been more direct

He purposefully strode into the line of fire.

[LakeSuperiorView]

8. I don't think one does anything purposefully after being shot 5 times.

[Cold War Spook]

3. So if everyone in the bar carried a weapon,

what do you think the death toll would have been.

[dalton99a]

4. Kick

[irisblue]

6. Good guy with a gun shot another good guy with a gun

I feel sympathy for the cop who shot and more for the one who died and his family.

[ROB-ROX]

7. COP KILLS COP

Two cops enter a room where shooting is happening. One cop is hit 5 times and turns to exit and the second cop shoots him with a rifle in the heart. I think the second cop should be in court for MURDER. Both cops are professionals with fire arms. Both cops are paid to be in situations where guns are used. The second cop pulled the trigger that killed the first cop. JUSTICE IS REQUIRED. I think the cops will sweep this case under the carpet.......DAMN CRIMINALS

[Jedi Guy]

9. Oh give me a break.

At most, this would be negligent homicide or involuntary manslaughter, and even that's tenuous, I think. Murder, not a chance.

This was a chaotic situation, and according to the police there was dim light and drifting smoke (from gunfire, I shouldn't wonder). If the cop with the rifle is drawing a bead on the bad guy, and the other cop, after being shot five times, lurched into his line of fire in an attempt to back away, it's all too easy for something like this to happen. Unless there's some evidence that the former had a grudge against the latter, this isn't murder.

Sometimes, bad things happen and it's an accident. The two officers were from different law enforcement agencies, so if anyone's fat is going to be in the fire, it'll likely be whoever was nominally in charge of the situation, since they clearly weren't coordinating very well. I doubt very much that the officer who just found out he killed a fellow officer is going to shrug this off. I doubt very much that anyone is "sweeping this under the carpet." If that were the case, they wouldn't have said a damn thing, would they?

[flying rabbit]

10. +1

Wise you are.

[Hekate]

11. +2

[secondvariety]

12. +3

The only one to blame is Ian Long.

[Scruffy1]

13. Well said.

The proponents of more guns have the strange belief that somehow in the chaos that the good guys with a gun always win. I had a friend killed by a police officer who shot the wrong guy. Trained professionals hit the intended target about 1 in 10. I hold no hate towards the cop. He will have to live with what happened. Many a soldier has been killed by friendly fire and its going to happen in war. What I would like is a society without guns.