At least one of the 12 people killed during Wednesday night’s mass shooting at a California bar had survived last year’s massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival, the victim’s mother has confirmed.
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Telemachus Orfanos, 27, was at a country music night at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks when gunman Ian David Long, 28, entered the premises and opened fire.
Speaking to the New York Times, Orfanos’ mother, Susan Schmidt-Orfanos, confirmed her son was among the dead.
Tragically, Schmidt-Orfanos said her son was one of the survivors of the Harvest Route 91 shooting in October 2017, which left 58 people dead and hundreds more wounded.
“He made it through Las Vegas, he came home,” she told the Times.
“And he didn’t come home last night, and the two words I want you to write are: Gun control.”
She echoed that sentiment in an interview with KABC-TV, saying “I don’t want prayers, I don’t want thoughts, I want gun control, and I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers.”
“I hope to God no one sends me anymore prayers. I want gun control. No more guns!” – mother of shooting victim Telemachus Orfanos. She says he survived the #LasVegasShooting but did not survive the #ThousandOaksMassacre. @ABC7 @ABCNewsLive pic.twitter.com/UMqTY1RATK
— Veronica Miracle (@vmiracleCNN) November 8, 2018
Survivors of the latest shooting told reporters that many of those at Borderline had also been at the Las Vegas festival.
“We’re all a big family, and unfortunately, this family got hit twice,” Borderline attendee Nicholas Champion said.
UPDATE: 11 people, 1 sheriff’s sergeant, gunman dead after mass shooting inside #BorderlineBar. Hundreds of people were inside for “College Country Night”, including Nicholas Champion. This is not the first mass shooting he’s experienced @wpri12 pic.twitter.com/D7ck4AG6SS
— Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) November 8, 2018
The New York Times reports Borderline, situated some 40 miles away from Las Vegas, had become a meeting point for many country music fans who had survived the earlier shooting.
Attendees who survived both shootings said they had learned to escape as quickly as possible once they heard gunshots.
Investigations into the latest shooting are ongoing.
