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APRIL 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 4

  • Text
  • Evans
  • Barron
  • Us
  • Newspaper
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Walker
  • Aftermath
  • Warstory
  • Shooting
  • Chief
  • Finner
  • Acevedo
• Meet the New HPD Chief of Police - Troy Finner • Trooper Chad Walker - Laid to Rest • Art Acevedo - Now Captain of the Love Boat • Inside a Mass Shooting • My Grandfather takes down a cop killer in the 60's • Over 60 Job Listings for LEOs in Texas

WORDS BY AN LAPD OFFICER

WORDS BY AN LAPD OFFICER INSIDE THE BORDERLINE BAR Six Unarmed Cops / One Shooter The following incident occurred on November 7, 2018. Unfortunately, shootings like this continue to play out all across our country on a somewhat regular basis. The most recent was an active shooter inside a grocery store in Colorado that claimed ten lives including Police Officer Eric Talley. The aftermath is always the same no matter where it occurs. In nearly every shooting there are those, both ordinary citizens as well as responding officers, who rush towards the shooter to stop the carnage. Ultimately though, dozens of innocent citizens and first responders are killed before the gunman is either killed, commits suicide or taken into custody. So, what’s different about this story? There were six off-duty officers inside when the shooting started. Unfortunately, in California it’s illegal for off-duty officers to conceal carry inside a club that sells alcohol. So, six officers and their wives and girlfriends, knew the risk when they went in. But they all come here often, and they had a plan in case something did go down. Park their cars with guns accessible near the side exit, sit as close to that door as possible and have at least one person in the group watching the front door. But the BBG, (what they called the Borderline Bar & Grill) was a quiet place and outside of a few drunks now and then, it’s a decent place to hang out. Two of the six officers had worked security there in the past before joining an undercover task force. But since it was a Wednesday night, the only security was a bouncer sitting outside the front door. The following article is what the mainstream news printed. The bolded paragraphs are taken from the officers inside the bar when the shooting started. And once again, you can see what a different picture the media paints as to what actually goes down. THOUSAND OAKS, CA – It was college night at the Borderline Bar and Grill, which describes itself as Ventura County’s largest country dance hall and live-music venue. Located in Thousand Oaks California, a city of 130,000 located northwest of Los Angeles and in 2018 it was ranked as the “third safest city in the US,” according to FBI crime stats. On this particular night, there were over 250 people inside the bar, many of them college students drawn by the “college country night” promotion. Also, inside, were six off-duty police officers from various law enforcement agencies. All were there just to enjoy a night off and not working security. Since it was a Wednesday and the crowds were not nearly the size as weekends, the only security that night was a security guard posted at the door. It was just past 10pm when our little group met up at the BBG. It was our weekly ritual to all go out and eat and then meet up for drinks and some dancing at the BBG. Wednesday was always a pretty quiet night especially when they ran their college special. I say quiet because outside of a few drunk college students getting loud, there weren’t any fights or red neck assholes causing problems. My buddy Pete and I have worked extra jobs here in the past and we knew just about all the staff. The only problem going to the BBG was it’s a 90/10 establishment. That means 90% of their sales are alcohol and 10% food. Which also means regardless of who you are, you can’t conceal carry inside. Only uniformed officers were legal to carry inside. Which meant we had to leave our guns in our cars, but we always parked on the side of the building near the exit door. And then sit as close to that door as possible once inside. As we walked up to the entrance, we stopped to say hi to Sean who was working part-time as bouncer/bar tender. Sean was probably the oldest guy working there on any given day, but he enjoyed the work and watched over the younger students that worked there as well. We made our way inside and noticed it was pretty busy for College Wednesday. Our regular table near the exit was taken, so we wound up sitting near the back. But it was all good. We ordered drinks and talked about anything but work. At 11:18 p.m. Pacific time. Chris Brown’s “Turn Up the Music” was blaring on the dance floor. Just outside a man in dressed in all black clothing approached the front door. The security guard saw the man approaching and started to question him as he looked out of place for someone coming to college night. But before he could say a word, the gunman, identified as David Long, shot 48-year-old Sean Adler point blank with .45-caliber handgun, and walked inside the bar. I guess it was around 11:15 that I heard what sounded like a car backfiring in the parking lot, but the music was so loud I couldn’t really tell. I saw the front door opening just a second or two later and that’s when I saw the shooter for the first time. He was dressed in all black and carrying a Glock. The backfire I thought I heard was the gunman shooting our friend Sean point blank in the head. Inside, the first person to see the gunman was David Anderson, 23, of Newbury Park, Ca. who ironically had survived the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival 42 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 43

The BLUES - Digital Issues 2020-2023

Rex Evans Michael Barron Lagest Police Magazine Us Police Newspaper Police News Police Magazine Trooper Chad Walker Aftermath Warstory Mass Shooting New Hpd Chief Troy Finner Art Acevedo

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