Survivors of the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting are believed to have been inside the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, late Wednesday night when a gunman opened fire during a popular country music night that reportedly drew hundreds of people, including college students.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 12 people have been confirmed dead, including a police officer who first responded to the scene. The gunman has also been killed, according to multiple reports.
Friends of people inside the Borderline Bar told the Los Angeles Times that some of those inside were at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, when Stephen Paddock opened fire from his suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.
Chandler Gunn, 23, of Newbury Park, told the newspaper that he went to Borderline Bar and Grill after learning of the mass shooting, and called a friend who works at the bar. He reportedly said that she survived the fatal Route 91 mass shooting last year. His friend, who was not identified, reportedly told him that she noticed some type of tear gas fill the bar before gun shots rang out.
Gunn said that Borderline Bar is popular with locals who also attended the Las Vegas festival last year.
“A lot of people in the Route 91 situation go here,” Gunn told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s people that live a whole lifetime without seeing this, and then there’s people that have seen it twice.”
Josh Coaly, 27, told the newspaper that he too had checked up on a friend after learning of the shooting, and that his friend also survived the Las Vegas mass shooting. Coaly said that his friend was safe.
Carl Edgar, 24, of Tarzana, also said that he had friends inside the bar who had attended the country music festival last year.
“As far as I know, all of my friends are OK, safe,” he said. “There are a few people we can’t get a hold of, but in these situations people usually turn off their phones to be safe so I’m not gonna get too worried. A lot of my friends survived Route 91. If they survived that, they’ll survive this.”
CrimeOnline will provide further updates when more information is available.
[Feature image: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill]
