California Shooting Survivor's Guilt: 'I Didn't Do Something To Try To Stop It'
A survivor of the shooting that claimed at least 12 lives in California on Thursday has given a harrowing account of the moment the shooter opened fire.
"We were looking at the dance floor and all the kids dancing and then all of sudden we heard shots firing and my son thought it was a joke. He didn't think it was real," Tim Dominguez said.
"But I knew it was real so I just pulled him down."
Fighting back tears, Dominguez recounted how he saw the club's cashier, just a young girl, get shot before the suspect moved into the club, where he started firing at the dance floor.
READ MORE: At Least 12 People Killed In Nightclub Mass Shooting
"He started shooting at the dance floor, walking towards the DJ booth to the upper level and there was the lower level where the dance floor is and he was shooting down on the dance floor," he said.
"He said nothing at all, he didn't say anything. I heard at least eight to 10 shots and I got outside and I still heard the shots."
READ MORE: Survivors Of Thousand Oaks Mass Shooting Also Witnessed Las Vegas Massacre
Dominguez said he and his son John managed to escape from the bar and run for their lives to their car. Neither he nor his son were physically injured in the attack, but he said the mental scars will linger for some time.
"He's doing fine, he is going to be traumatised for a little while as I will I think, because we made it out and there's quite a few people that didn't and they were all young and they had a long life to live," he said.
I feel kind of guilty that I didn't do something to try to stop it.
"I have lived a pretty good life and they just started their's and it's not right, it's not right. I don't know what this dude was thinking, just that he was crazed."
In a separate interview, the father of Cody Coffman, one of the victims confirmed dead in the shooting, spoke of his grief.
"We did just get the news that he was one of the 11 that was hit and killed last night," James Coffman said.
“Only him and I know, how I loved -- how much I miss him. This is so hard. Oh, son, I love you so much.”
James told the media Cody was a model older brother who loved and cared for his siblings, the youngest of which is due to be born in a few weeks time.
"Cody was the big brother that my kids need. I have a daughter coming on the 29th of this month. He was so excited to have his first sister. Now she'll never know..." James said.
Cody will never meet his unborn little sister.
Police have identified Ian David Long as a suspect in the shooting. Long was a 28-year-old former Marine who was known to police due to a number of incidences associated with possible post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is believed he opened fire at the California bar before turning the gun on himself. He was found dead at the scene. A motive for the crime has not been established.
READ MORE: California Shooting Suspect A Former Marine Already Known To Police
Featured Image: KCBS.
Contact Siobhan at skenna@networkten.com.au