Ex-Ventura Police Sgt. John Patrick Dowling walked up to his estranged wife Wednesday night at Cook’s Corner, where she was enjoying the legendary California biker bar’s weekly spaghetti with a friend from Arizona.
Without a word, he shot Marie Dowling in the face with a handgun, then shot her friend, 49-year-old Tonya Clark. It’s just after 7 p.m., KABC reported.
“He walked directly to her,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said. “There was not a discussion, dialogue or argument. He immediately fired upon her, striking her once.”
He shot Clark once as well, and she staggered outside, trying to get away, but collapsed and died. Dowling began randomly shooting other patrons of the bar, ultimately shooting three other people, including fatally shooting Glen Sprowl Jr, 53, KTLA reported.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department got the first of many 911 calls at about 7:04 p.m. Two minutes later, deputies are on scene, but they don’t know where the shooter is. They split up and engage their active shooter training to locate him, KABC said.
By 7:08, Dowling has come outside to his truck in an upper parking lot for two more weapons — a handgun and a shotgun. John Leehy, 67, confronts him in the parking lot, and Dowling shoots him dead. The deputies find Dowling still there, according to KTLA.
A group of seven deputies confront Dowling, who opens fire at them at them. No deputies are struck, although several of Dowling’s bullets hit patrol vehicles. The deputies return fire, and the shooting is over. Dowling is dead.
The deputies quickly check the scene to make sure it was safe for paramedics, who arrive a minute after Dowling was taken down, according to KABC. The last wounded person arrives at the hospital 46 minutes after the shooting started, Barnes said.
In addition to Marie Dowling, four other patrons were wounded in the shooting, and a sixth person suffered a non-gunshot injury. Dowling and a man who was shot in the chest were in critical condition, while the other four were listed in stable condition, as CrimeOnline reported.
According to KTLA, two members of the band playing at the club that night — Ed Means and Dave Stretch — were wounded.
Barnes said investigators, who numbered over 100 as the night wore on, interviewed 40 witnesses and recovered 75 shell casings from the scene.
The Dowlings had separated in 2020, and Marie filed for divorce in March, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Her estranged husband, meanwhile, moved to Ohio, although he still owned the home in Camarillo, California, where the couple had lived. He had come back to California a short time before the shooting, KABC reported.
Police executed a search warrant Thursday at the Camarillo home, but it wasn’t clear what, if anything, was taken out.
Cook’s Corner, at the intersection of Santiago and Trabuco Canyons, dates back to the 1880s and is now a popular bar and grill beloved by bikers and local families.
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[Featured image: Marie Dowling and John Patrick Dowling/KABC screenshots]
