A veteran’s hatred of college students was the motive behind the 2018 shooting at bar in Thousand Oaks, California, that left 12 people dead, a new report suggests.
On Nov. 7, 2018, Ian David Long, a former machine gunner in the Marine Corp, opened fire on patrons at the Borderline Bar and Grill, killing 11 patrons and then himself. A police officer was also killed by friendly fire while responding to the scene. Seven of the people killed were college students and the bar was hosting a “College Night” that evening.
In the more than 400 page report from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office released on Wednesday, investigators said Long had a “strong disdain for civilians, or individuals not associated with any branch of the U.S. military.”
“More specifically, it was discovered that the suspect did not like college students,” the report said. The suspect went to college after completing his service and “although he earned high marks in his classes, he would tell those close to him that he could not relate to most of the other adults.”
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The Ventura sheriff said that while Long attended California State University, Northridge, he felt he was disrespected by fellow students because of his service, and was told that “anyone who joined the military deserved to be shot and killed over seasons.”
“The suspect began to hate individuals who felt this way,” the report says, and would call them “ignorant social assholes.”
“He felt they were entitled, liberal civilians who literally had no knowledge, understanding or comprehension of what he had experienced in war,” the report said, and thought they should be “wiped off the map.”
The report also said the suspect suffered from PTSD from his time in the military. Authorities said Long had visited websites that “demonstrate a propensity for mass violence, suicide, and murder,” the report said.
The Ventura sheriff said that despite their thorough investigation they “cannot say with absolutely certainty” a hatred of college students was his motive, calling it a “working theory that has been established.”