The rampage in Thousand Oaks, a city of 129,000 people about 40 miles west of Los Angeles, was the deadliest shooting in Southern California since 14 people were killed in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015.
The first 911 call reported “shots fired” at the club, said Capt. Garo Kuredjian, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. “As deputies responded, they also heard shots.” Additional units from the California Highway Patrol, Simi Valley and the F.B.I. responded.
Captain Kuredjian said many of the young people inside the crowded bar had turned out for a college country music night. The bar is not far from Pepperdine University, which said in a statement that it had received reports that several students were at the bar when the shooting occurred. California Lutheran University, whose campus is about four miles from the bar, said it had canceled classes on Thursday.
The bar’s website says that for a quarter century, it “has stood as the Ventura County’s largest country dance hall and live music venue,” with more than 2,500 square feet of open dance space.
Ms. Wong, who was celebrating her birthday, was trapped in the club until the police arrived. She described the scene as a blur.
“I’m so sorry your birthday got ruined,” her friend Sarah DeSon told her when they were reunited.
“She’s alive though. She’s alive for her 21st birthday,” said Ms. Whittler, whose badly scratched leg had just been bandaged by emergency medical workers. Moments later, Ms. Whittler’s parents arrived in a truck to check in on her.
“Were you hit?” her mother asked, with panic in her eyes. “No it’s just a scratch, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Ms. Whittler said.
Worried families and friends gathered Thursday morning at the Thousand Oaks Teen Center where they awaited information inside the auditorium, away from cameras that lined the entrance to the building.
One father, Jason Coffman, was frantically searching for his son, Cody, 22, whose cellphone went unanswered.
