Officer Cleared For Accidentally Shooting Sergeant At 2018 California Bar Chaos

A police officer who responded and was killed at a California bar chaos on Nov. 7, 2018, was also shot by his fellow officer according to the latest reports. Ventura County Sheriff Ron Helus was firing at main suspect Ian David Long at that time but tripped on some entangled ropes as he was backing out.

Helus was exchanging fire with Long inside the dark, smoky bar at the time before tumbling to the ground according to a report from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Another police officer, Todd Barrett had already exited the premises at that point but was still firing at Long. One of his shots unfortunately hit Helus as he was getting back to his feet.

Helus was shot five times by Long but medical examiners found a 6th bullet that came from Barrett. Upon learning this, Barrett was devastated.

Long was a marine veteran and employed a tactical position as he awaited the officers to enter the bar. He managed to escape the crossfire until eventually shooting himself after the fiery exchange.

Barrett believes they did the right thing with Helus and a third officer responding to the disturbance, highway patrol Officer Lidia Espinoza. There was an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury when they responded to reports of gunfire at around 11:20 p.m. that night, the Associated Press reported.

The use of deadly force was deemed a lawful act of self-defense and defense of others per prosecutors. As far as the accidental shooting of Barrett on Helus, it was justified and not considered criminal per the report.

The report also included some edited video security footage and vest-worn cameras at the time of the incident. It could be seen how Long was waiting in the back office of the bar and watching on video monitors as Helus, Barrett and Espinoza arrived.

“In an extraordinary act of heroism due to the active threat Long posed, Sergeant Helus and Officer Barrett entered the Borderline without knowledge of where Long was located, which afforded Long a substantial tactical advantage,” prosecutors said.