On Wednesday night, a tragic shooting in Thousand Oaks, California left at least 12 dead, including Tamera Mowry-Housley’s niece, Alaina Housley.
The Real co-host and her husband, Adam Housley, spent hours on Thursday trying to track down their niece’s whereabouts, including reaching out on social media to one of her suitemates who had tweeted that Alaina was still missing.
While speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Tamera’s husband made note of the fact that Alaina’s Apple Watch and iPhone’s location was indicating that she was still on the bar dance floor. “My gut is saying she’s inside the bar, dead. I’m hoping I’m wrong,” he said. Shortly after, Adam and Tamera learned that his fears were confirmed—Alaina had lost her life.
In a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the couple said: “Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks. Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time.”
Alaina was 18-years-old and a freshman at Pepperdine University, where she majored in English.
The university also released a statement via their Facebook page: “We are devastated to report that one of our students, Alaina Housley, was among those who passed away at Borderline in Thousand Oaks last night. Our hearts are broken with the news of this profound loss. We offer our deepest condolences to the Housley family and ask that our community join us in keeping Alaina’s family, friends, and loved ones in their prayers during this incredibly difficult time.”
The shooter, who has since been identified as Marine Corps veteran Ian David Long, killed 12 people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, and injured over two dozen others, before it is believed he took his own life. The Thousand Oaks Borderline Bar & Grill is frequented by young students, and Wednesday was their weekly country music-themed night for those 18 and over.
Students from nearby universities including California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University and California State University Channel Islands were reported to be in attendance. This is a shocking and devastating fear many college-aged people have to face when going out to clubs and bars.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Housley family and everyone affected by this senseless tragedy.