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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Gunman Storms Southern California Bar Popular to College Students. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 08, 2018 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00] HOLDEN HARRAH, SHOOTING VICTIM: I am just in shock over what I saw with my own two eyes tonight.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Was it dark inside the bar?

HARRAH: No. There's light. And I was like --

ROMANS: Yes.

I am just in shock over what I saw with my own two eyes tonight.

ROMANS: Was it dark inside the bar?

HARRAH: Like a little party, like people are dancing. Music's going. And then it's nice and casual.

ROMANS: Sure.

HARRAH: And this guy just came out of nowhere and came out with a gun and shot people. In Thousand Oaks, California. And that's what's really just blowing my mind because it's a really safe area.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. A wonderful community. A very safe community.

HARRAH: Wonderful community.

BRIGGS: Right. Absolutely.

HARRAH: Yes. Family values.

BRIGGS: Yes.

HARRAH: We're known as the safe haven. You know what I mean?

BRIGGS: Yes. We're hearing reports of smoke bombs thrown into the Borderline Bar. Did you see that?

HARRAH: I was already out of the building at the time. But I didn't see any smoke bombs. But I was just around people that I knew I was with and I was just in the process of getting the hell out of there.

ROMANS: Yes.

HARRAH: But I did for sure see the gentleman come in and shoot his gun off. I saw it with my own two eyes.

ROMANS: How many shots did you hear before you got out of there? I mean, it sounds like your fight or flight mechanism kicked in and you just were -- just had to go out.

HARRAH: Yes. I heard about four or five.

BRIGGS: Four or five. There are reports of some 30 shots fired by another eyewitness according to the "L.A. Times."

If you could, Holden, I know this is a difficult moment. Could you just kind of describe for us the type of crowd that was there tonight and the type of crowd that is there most Wednesdays on college night?

HARRAH: Yes. So on Wednesdays, Borderline is like a country theme bar. So it's a lot of country music and people just dressed in country attire. 18 and up as well on this night. There's no alcohol. I mean, only for 21 plus, of course. But yes, it's a country theme.

ROMANS: You've gone how much --

HARRAH: I have known these people for a very long time.

ROMANS: Every Wednesday --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRAH: We've always just been really close and really good people.

BRIGGS: Are you a local college student and what colleges typically attend the bar tonight?

HARRAH: It's a mixed. I go to Moorpark College. But I go from Ventura County, Calabasas area. Like it's a pretty known bar. A lot of people like to gather just to have fun. Like a lot of Cal Lutheran. Around that area so.

ROMANS: Yes, we know that Pepperdine --

HARRAH: It's just really hard for me to talk now. I'm super like traumatized. And --

ROMANS: I got it.

HARRAH: I'm shocked to what's going.

ROMANS: Holden --

HARRAH: I'm really shaking right now.

ROMANS: Thank you so much for your time.

HARRAH: Something I have never experienced this in my life. And I'm very sad.

ROMANS: Holden, we are sad for you. We are so glad you got OK. We hope your friends are OK. Thank you for your time. Thanks, Holden Harrah.

HARRAH: Yes, of course. Be safe tonight.

ROMANS: Thank you.

Just not what you want to happen. Just not what a kid should have to go through. Young adults to have to go through.

BRIGGS: Far too many college students and young people have experienced, even elementary students have experienced similar experiences in the most recent years unfortunate. But we appreciate Holden Harrah joining us.

For those of you just now joining us at 4:33 Eastern Time. 1:33 Pacific Time. A mass shooting incident ongoing at this hour at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, northwest of Los Angeles. Information is still coming in at this point.

Here's what we know. The attacker forced his way into the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. It's a huge country and western dance bar popular with Pepperdine and Cal Lutheran students, as well as Moorpark College where Holden Harrah attends. An official on scene saying there were at least 11 injured, including one sheriff's deputy who has been transported to the hospital. As for those 11, their conditions are not yet known.

ROMANS: One witness telling CNN affiliate KABC that a gunman walked up, shot a security guard, entered the bar, and started shooting. Now this eyewitness that we just talked to, Holden, describing the gunman as wearing a black trench coat with glasses, tactical officers are in the bar. Officials say the shooter is still inside the bar as well, but confined. That's what they're saying, he's confined at the bar and not a threat to the public. But they're not specifying whether he has been shot, whether he's been killed, whether he's been arrested.

Also, the eyewitness Holden told us that he saw the shooter walk in and twice shoot the young woman who works just inside the door. Just a terrible experience for all those people there. The Borderline dance floor, by the way, about 2500 square feet. So this is a big party venue. It's got pool tables, it's got food, it's got places for line dancing. Officials say hundreds of people were inside. They're confirming that 11 were hurt including that sheriff's deputy who was shot.

BRIGGS: Again, 18 and up night. College night. We can confirm as we said Moorpark College students were there, Pepperdine students were there, Cal Lutheran students were here.

[04:35:05] Let's hear now from another eyewitness to the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was to the front door. I was talking to my stepdad. And I just started hearing these big pops. Pop, pop, pop. There's probably three or four. I hit the ground. I look up. The security guard's dead. I don't want to say dead but he was shot, he was down. And the gunman was throwing smoke grenades all over the place. I saw him point to the back of the cash register. And he just started -- he just kept firing. I ran out the front door. I hear chairs being thrown out the window. People were trying to get out the window.

And the gunman went to the -- he went behind the cash register. He kept -- there was probably 12 shots before I got out the front door. And I go out. I come back in to see if my stepdad's OK. I hear him yelling. And I ran. But the gunman he was -- he had a beard. He looked Middle Easterner or so. He was wearing a hat, black jacket. I think he had glasses on like prescription glasses. He had a big handgun. And -- I mean, shots were just firing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was right next to the entrance. We were getting ready to leave. We have (INAUDIBLE). And some smoke came in. He -- I guess he rolled some smoke in. He fired the first shot. I knew it was live. I knew it was real. My son thought it was a joke. So I pulled him down and got behind cover. I looked up and he was moving to the right. He shot the front doorman or bouncer. Just a young man. And then he shot the cashier. Just a young girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gunman walked in. Sounds like a submachine gun. It was a small caliber. He had a big-ass magazine. He starts popping off. Then everyone ducks down. And then we start dragging chairs to throw them out the window. (INAUDIBLE) smoke. I don't think he had flash bangs. And then everyone starts jumping through the windows. My friend, he got hit right here. He didn't get hit hard, but it went through his shoulder. We just started running.

There was only like two cops on scene after like 10 minutes. Ten minutes, there were only two cops on scene. And then we're behind this little barrier that's holding the garbage cans. And then he pops off a whole another 30 rounds. I don't know. Thirty rounds, toss them off. And it's 10 minutes after that, more cops come. And then they drag everyone out. I was inside.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know what race he was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black hair. Black trench coat. Short, stubby. I didn't see what race he was. Lighter (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You're hearing there just a sampling of some of the just initial eyewitness testimony from outside of the scene. And I really want to caution people that as we've seen in these breaking chaotic situations, sometimes eyewitness testimony can be contradictory and sometimes law enforcement later on can go ahead and correct some of that.

So law enforcement saying that the shooter is confined, but not saying whether he's been shot or arrested. But he's confined on the scene. Law enforcement also, the officials on the scene are not confirming these reports of a smoke bomb. So you don't know sort of what was going on inside there, as the gun was being fired that caused folks to think that smoke bombs were being thrown. Again we have no -- maybe they were. Again early conflicting reports there from the ground.

BRIGGS: And here is a map just to give you a sense of where exactly this is for those of you not familiar with the area of Ventura Freeway. The 101 as many people know it. This bar just off the 101 in Thousand Oaks. Thousand Oaks again a very safe community. People even move there because it is considered a very safe community near Los Angeles.

Cal Lutheran, the college, that just about four miles away from the Borderline Bar and Grill. There were students from Cal Lutheran there. There were students from Pepperdine as well as Moorpark College. Again we do know 11 were injured. And we do know that the shooter at this point is considered confined. Don't know anything more than that. College country night.

[04:40:01] This is a country line dancing bar and for many of you that are familiar with country music, you think back to the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017. In fact one eyewitness telling the "L.A. Times," "A lot of my friends survived Route 91." That was the country music festival. Well they -- if they survived that, they'll survive this. Imagine if you were at both of those shootings. Country music fans at this hour just watching in horror once again.

ROMANS: We know the call came in at 11:20 Pacific Time. L.A. Time. That's 2:20 Eastern Time from the Thousand Oaks location. And we know from eyewitnesses and from the authorities that the bouncer at the door was shot. A young woman who works inside the door, the cashier, an employee inside -- in the door, a young woman that people who go there every week knew well. She was shot. We don't know her condition.

We know a deputy was shot with the Ventura Sheriff's Office. Overall, we know 11 were hurt. And police are cautioning or authorities are cautioning that these numbers are preliminary. All these numbers are preliminary and they believe they do have the gunman confined is the word a sheriff's deputy is -- confined, or sheriff's captain, rather, but they won't say whether he is deceased, arrested or what the exact condition is there.

BRIGGS: But as Steve Moore, our law enforcement analyst, told us, a former supervisory agent of the FBI, judging by the live pictures he was seeing just outside the Borderline Bar & Grill, clearly it was not a dangerous situation in and around that bar judging by the actions of those officers.

According to reports, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been dispatched to the scene. Trying to figure out how this went down, how the shooter will be arrested. Again we don't know anything more than the fact that he is contained at this hour.

We are waiting an update from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. We'll bring that to you as we get it.

ROMANS: So we've asking eyewitnesses and we've been hearing from our affiliates, from eyewitnesses, about what the shooter looked like A trench coat, handgun -- a handgun rather. Some kind of beard. And that's all we know at this point.

Sometimes in those early situations, you know, people are running away or people get a glimpse through, you know, a darkened room so we just don't know exactly anymore about the shooter other than a couple of people have referenced him as a young man, black trench coat, firing with a handgun.

BRIGGS: Black hair. Black beard. Sheriff deputies want to make clear this is not at this hour a threat to the public. 1:42 Pacific Time. 4:42 Eastern Time. Our coverage of the shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[04:47:15] BRIGGS: All right. Back to our breaking news at 4:47 Eastern Time. 1:47 in Los Angeles where a mass shooting incident is ongoing at this hour in Thousand Oaks, California, in a bar there northwest of L.A., is Thousand Oaks.

Information still coming here at this point. Here's what we know. The attacker forced his way into the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. This is a huge country and western dance bar. Popular with Pepperdine and Cal Lutheran students, 18 and up allowed in that night. An official on scene saying there were at least 11 injured, including one sheriff's deputy who's been transported to the hospital. The conditions of those 11 not yet known at this hour.

ROMANS: Again, this is all preliminary information. The call came in at 11:20 local time. Just a couple of hours ago. One witness telling CNN affiliate KABC, a gunman guy walked up, shot a bouncer or security guard outside the bar, entered the bar and started shooting. An eyewitness we just spoke with, Holden Harrah, described the gunman as wearing a black trench coat. He has a beard. He had glasses. Tactical officers are in the bar now and officials are telling us the shooter is still inside the bar as well and not a threat to the public.

Confined is the word law enforcement is using to talk about the shooter. A few more words about the bar. The Borderline dance floor alone, 2500 square feet. Officials say hundreds of people were inside. There are pool tables, there are HDTVs. There's dancing venue, food. Just a big crowded space full of college students on a Wednesday night.

BRIGGS: All right. The call came in at 11:20 p.m. Pacific time. Let's get the latest update now from the sheriff's captain of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. GARO KUREDJIAN, VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: A deputy was shot. I don't know what his condition is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Which agency?

KUREDJIAN: With the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Were they responding to the scene or?

KUREDJIAN: Yes. They were responding to the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was it someone who engaged the suspect?

KUREDJIAN: I don't know that but I assume so. But I don't know that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We heard of a report about a security guard who got injured. Do you have a security guard on the scene?

KUREDJIAN: I don't have information on any of those injured other than the deputy that was injured. That's all that I know.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You don't have any conditions on any of the victims? Is that right?

KUREDJIAN: I don't have any conditions on any of the victims.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Eleven total right now?

KUREDJIAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you expecting that number to grow?

KUREDJIAN: I would guess if anything that number would go up. These are, again, like I said earlier, they were preliminary numbers. I want to give you guys numbers as opposed to saying several. But that number could just like what I said earlier six. That number has gone up to 11. That number could change and that's all that I can say at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are there of those 11 that have now been transported? Is there anyone on scene who is deceased and has not been taken to a hospital?

KUREDJIAN: I don't have that information. I don't know of anyone that is deceased or not transported.

[04:50:05] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So as far as you know 11 are in the hospital?

KUREDJIAN: I don't know if they were transported or if they're here or what their condition is. I don't know if that answer it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What do you say to the families? There were so many people, friends and loved ones, worried about the status of their people. When will they know -- when will they be able to look inside?

KUREDJIAN: That will take some time. It's not a scene that is safe where people can go in and out at this point. We have investigators that are looking to make sure that the scene inside the nightclub is safe. And it's going to take some time. I don't have a time estimate for that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know how this call came in? Was it somebody in the bar who called for help? Someone who left? How did that unfold? Do you know?

KUREDJIAN: I don't know where the call came from. What I can tell you is the car is the call was shots fired. And that's what our deputies responded to. That is what they factored when they arrived on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you check with security guards upon arrival to confirm or deny if it's a (INAUDIBLE) hate crime or if there was an altercation or fight? Maybe it was somebody who came back with a weapon?

KUREDJIAN: I don't have that level of detail. I've been -- since it's been so rapidly unfolding at this point, we're trying to get as much information to give you all about the statistics of what has happened. I don't have that level of detail. I haven't been able to talk to investigators to that level yet.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said that the shooter is quarantined somewhere or cordoned off?

KUREDJIAN: We don't feel that the shooter has left the bar and grill. So whatever it is, it was contained inside the bar and grill. We don't feel that there is a threat to the public outside, to the neighbors outside.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We heard there was yelling inside the building. And the shooter is inside the building. Wouldn't that -- doesn't that mean that the shooter is down at this point?

KUREDJIAN: I don't know if he's been transported or he's been captured. What I can tell you is, we don't feel that there is a threat to the residents outside the area.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know if the Borderline Bar & Grill scans for weapons on patrons coming in?

KUREDJIAN: I don't know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Again, Wednesday night. College night. Full of young people. As young as 18 years old at this venue and this is a place people went to relax. A friendly neighborhood, a friendly spot. And a gunman came in and shot the bouncer or security guard, shot the young woman just inside the door and continued shooting. It sounds like, police say, he is contained, is the word they used, I guess, there. But we just don't know officially the condition of the shooter and the condition of the at least 11 people who were injured in this event.

BRIGGS: Yes. Facts still coming in at this hour. Don't know a whole lot. This country -- college country night, extraordinarily popular there. You can imagine a 2500 square foot dance floor. Hundreds of people dancing on that floor at any given time. Mostly college students. Pepperdine University can confirm their students were there at the time. Cal Lutheran students were there at the time. Moorpark College there as well that night.

ROMANS: We spoke just a few minutes ago to a young man named Holden Harrah who was in the bar with friends. And he was on the other side of the bar when the gunman came in. And let's listen to a little bit of his very shocking and troubling eyewitness report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAH: Heart-wrenching tragic events that has ever happened in a very long time.

ROMANS: Tell me, Holden, what you saw, what you were doing. You were dancing?

HARRAH: No, I was on the opposite side of the bar. And I was just with a few friends and yes, and I go there every week. I have been attending there for about six months. And, you know, just a place to go out, hang out with your friends and just have fun as young adults. And unfortunately what happened tonight and what I actually saw with my own two eyes was a gentleman who walked in to the front door and shot the girl that was right behind the counter.

I just -- I see this girl every single time I'm there. It just -- I don't know her name. But someone to make small conversation with, and say hi here and there. We're starting to get really familiar with each other. And the first two gunshots hit her. I don't know if she's alive.

BRIGGS: We are so sorry, Holden. We know how difficult this must be. I can't imagine what it was like to be inside that bar at the time. Did you see the shooter? Did you make anything out?

HARRAH: Yes. I saw a gentleman wearing a black trench-looking coat. He had a beard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Again, Holden Harrah who says he goes there every week. He's been going there for about six months. Just how tragic that was to see the young woman inside the front door who he has, you know, interacted with before, who works there, shot.

[04:55:06] We don't know her condition. We know a sheriff's deputy has been shot and transported to the hospital. We know there are preliminary numbers, 11 injured. We don't know the conditions of any of those 11.

BRIGGS: Yes. Again, from a eyewitness accounts, putting together, piecing together the moments at 11:20 p.m. California Time. Pacific Time. The first call came in to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. It sounds as though from eyewitness accounts, a bouncer, a doorman was shot. That's how the gunman then entered the bar. There were reports of smoke bombs. Still not entirely clear if in fact that was the case. But did begin shooting.

The "L.A. Times" has an eyewitness reports up to 30 shots fired. We do know the woman behind the bar was shot several times again according to that witness Holden Harrah.

ROMANS: I want to bring in Madeleine Carr now. She is Pepperdine Graphics News editor. Pepperdine University. Just so I think 30 minutes -- 30, 40 minutes away from there.

Madeline, can you hear me?

MADELEINE CARR, NEWS EDITOR, THE PEPPERDINE GRAPHIC: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

ROMANS: Hi. So you guys are reporting this aggressively, this story, Wednesday, now into Thursday morning here. We know the first call went in at 11:20. There were Pepperdine students in the building, right?

CARR: Yes. At least 20 that we know of. We know that a bunch of freshman dorms had planned outings to go to it so we know of at least 20 students that were there.

ROMANS: It was Wednesday night, it's college night. This is a popular location, Borderline, for college students from Pepperdine?

CARR: Yes. I know I personally haven't gone yet. I was going to go with them tonight and decided not to because of homework. But it is a popular place to go because it's local and we do have a lot of people from the south because there's line dancing and that attracts a lot of people that bring friends. So I know a good amount of people that have gone there regularly or from time to time.

ROMANS: Have they even been texting tonight? Have you been hearing from them?

CARR: We have been texting as much as we can. It's hard. We're still trying to reach some of the girls. But as the people that we know that got out, a lot of them do live nearby in Thousand Oaks. So we know a group that were able to get to one of the student's house and are waiting there. I haven't been able -- we haven't been able to reach everyone. And we're not sure if their phones are off or dead or what the situation is.

BRIGGS: It's a big country scene that night. What do you know of the Borderline Bar & Grill, the type of crowd that it typically attracts on a college night on a Wednesday night?

CARR: From what I know, if you're looking to have fun, I know Pepperdine, we're in a quiet area. And Borderline is just a fun spot to go dance. Like I said a bunch of people here from the south and they pulled in friends to go. So it's -- from at least the under 21. It's a fun place to go because there aren't as many places to go around here. But people just go there to dance and have a good time in the middle of the week. ROMANS: So good to hear that at least some of those students were

able to get out to another student's home or student's parents' home near Thousand Oaks. You know, as a soft target, I mean, it's so -- when you are a reporter, you're an editor covering a story that affects your friends.

Tell me your generation and I guess you want to be able to go to a place like this and relax and have fun. But you really are the generation of the -- you know, the lockdown drills, aren't you?

CARR: Yes. And I think a little nerve-wracking for us is like Pepperdine especially, we're a big international program school. And so a lot of people go abroad. And I'm sure people worry a lot about going abroad and having situations like this. So it's really crazy when something like this happens so close to home. And as it happens -- obviously you never anticipate something like this happening. But it's taken all of us like off guard.

ROMANS: I know. And you're in a position where you are covering the story for your newspaper, your student newspaper, and you're covering a story that is really close to home. We wish you well.

Madeleine Carr, thank you.

CARR: Yes. Thanks.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIGGS: All right. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. And our breaking news coverage of the shooting in Thousand Oaks, California. A mass shooting, the second in as many weeks in this country after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting less than two weeks ago. This is an ongoing situation at this hour. The bar in Thousand Oaks, California. It's northwest of Los Angeles. That gives you a good sense of it just off the 101 or Ventura Freeway there.

Information is still coming in at this hour. Here is what we do know. The attacker forced his way into the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks there. It's a huge country and western dance bar.