***Trigger Warning: This article contains sensitive material, especially pertaining to the Borderline Shooting. If you are sensitive towards this topic, this article may not be the right read for you. A link to Cal Lutheran’s CAPS website can be found at the bottom of this article.***
Recently, the Ventura County has experienced both an active-shooter emergency and two wildfires (being the Hill and Woolsey fires) which pose immediate threats to structures in the Malibu area and Newbury Park respectively, all within the same 48 hours. The Borderline shooting took twelve lives total, excluding that of the assailant, and occurred Nov. 7 during the bar’s “College Night” event which consisted mostly of college-aged students. The assailant, Ian David Long, had obtained an illegal magazine and attached it to his legally obtained handgun. One of the twelve deaths included Ventura County Sgt. Ron Helus who served on the Ventura County police force for 29 years (full list of victims can be found here). Following this emergency, on Nov. 8 both the Hill and Woolsey fires started and over 200,000 Malibu residents were forced to evacuate (full fire report found here). While California Lutheran University was not placed under mandatory evacuation, a large number of students left campus anyway and campus internet servers were down as of Nov. 10.
The city of Thousand Oaks remembers the victims of the Borderline shooting. Image courtesy of thespirituallifecoach
Based off of personal reflection, it is hard to put into words exactly how devastated and traumatized our community felt following these back-to-back emergencies and subsequent sleepless nights. I, personally, remember spending the entire early morning hours of Nov. 8 staring into my television with my roommates, and the pit in my stomach growing with every piece of information presented. The anxiety I felt as I hurriedly texted my friends at the bar to see if they were safe and alive, was overpowering and trumped my need for sleep throughout the entire night, leaving me frantic and exhausted. Truth be told, I felt frozen and hopeless, and I stayed frozen the entire next day as I attended the campus vigils and church service, refusing to believe a shooting had happened here.
Unfortunately, the following night, my attempt of sleeping off the pain and disbelief of the previous tragedy was interrupted in the middle of the night by the ear-splitting emergency alerts on my cell phone warning me of evacuation notices, and my best friend’s panicked banging on my door. My friends and I packed up our car exhausted in preparation for anticipated evacuation, our sleep-deprived and fried brains still unable to process the utter havoc that had hit our quiet and humble town.
While each tragedy was devastating in its own right to everyone affected, I would prefer to highlight and commend our community in this article for its ability to stand together as one during these trying past couple of days, because our newfound strength has stuck out the most to me.
Following the news of the shooting, I immediately received text messages from my friends and classmates, asking me if I was safe and if my friends were all accounted for. One of my closest campus friends immediately invited me over to her dorm out of kindness, and my hall RA opened her door to those needing some company. As students frantically walked about the hallway attempting to put the story together, other students held onto them invited them inside, not saying much but definitely understanding.
The next afternoon, the California Lutheran campus residence life provided free pizza and snacks in residence hall lounges, and as the weekend continued the campus chapel provided free lunches and waters. California Lutheran University campus Counseling And Psychological Services (CAPS) also provided onsite care for those needing it, and classes were canceled for the remainder of the week to allow students to process the events occurring. The city of Thousand Oaks also held it’s own vigil for the lives lost in Borderline, and helped spark a sense of community.
As soon the fires sprung up, my Snapchat feed was immediately littered with evacuation site information, offers of open homes, and links to websites to donate to fire relief. My inbox was full of phone calls and texts from both new and old friends, some of which I had not spoken to in years, with messages of love and healing. Ventura County law enforcement and first responders worked hours on end for our city during these emergencies; the fire department is also still battling the Woolsey fire which is now over 83,000 acres (according to accuweather.com). The residents of Thousand Oaks are rallying together and donating bottled waters, chapsticks, food, wipes, and other donations for firefighters and first responders as they continue to fight the two wildfires.
The city continues to accept and donate materials to law enforcement and first responders as they battle the fires. Image courtesy of @VCSORomanoBassi on Twitter.
While the last few days exhausted and tested everyone’s faith, the one thing that is getting all of us through is my community’s ability to band together and protect its people while the world otherwise appears to be ending. The sheer kindness both the city and the California Lutheran University campus has shown each other over the last few days has helped myself, other students and residents restore their faith in humanity, and allows us to feel as though we are not alone as we undergo these trials together.
Because of the sacrifices we all continue to make for each other, this community continues to give me more hope than any tragedy could take away.
Campus Resources:
California Lutheran CAPS office is available throughout the week, and more information can be found on their website here.