California was rattled by a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, where a gunman opened fire and killed 12 people on late Thursday, November 8. Among those killed was a man, who had survived the Las Vegas massacre in 2017.
Telemachus Orfanos, 27, died on Thursday and his mother said that she did not want prayers and instead demanded gun control.
"My son was in Las Vegas with a lot of his friends and he came home. He didn't come home last night," his mother told ABC News. "I don't want prayers, I don't want thoughts, I want gun control and I hope to God nobody else sends me more prayers. I want gun control. No. More. Guns," she said.
Speaking of how Orfanos had survived the Las Vegas massacre, where 58 people were shot dead, his father said that the 27-year-old lost his life at his hometown. "It's particularly ironic that after surviving the worst mass shooting in modern history, he went on to be killed in his hometown," his father told the Ventura County Star.
Orfanos was a graduate of Thousand Oaks High School and later joined the US Navy, where he served for two and a half years. He was also godfather to Gregory Krisilas' daughter and Krisilas remembered him for the wonderful person he was.
"He survived the Vegas massacre last year where he spent the whole night carrying injured and assisting first responders," Krisilas told USA Today. "There are too many people with guns that shouldn't have them."
The Thousand Oaks gunman was identified as Ian David Long, a 28-year-old Marine veteran . He is known to have killed himself and was found dead in an apartment.
Speaking of the crime scene, police said that Long was wearing a black sweater and wielding a .45-caliber Glock gun. On Thursday night, he went to the bar and shot a security guard outside and a few employees at the entrance.
Long is then said to have paused, posted a few messages on social media speaking of his mental health, after which he went in and opened fire at the patrons on the dance floor.
In the messages that Long posted on social media, he wrote: "It's too bad I won't get to see all the illogical and pathetic reasons people will put in my mouth as to why I did it. Fact is I had no reason to do it, and I just thought... f***it, life is boring so why not?" reported ABC.
He added: "I hope people call me insane...wouldn't that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah... I'm insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is 'hopes and prayers'... or 'keep you in my thoughts'... every time... and wonder why these keep happening..."
