sergeant ron helus was planning to retire from the ventura county sheriff s department sometime in the next year or so. last night he was the first officer to respond to a report of a mass shooting in a bar in thousand oaks, california. he was on the phone with his wife when he got the call. he told her, hon, i got to go. i love you. i got to go on a call. sergeant ron helus went through the front door of the bar, accompanied by a california highway patrol officer. sheriff dean said they immediately exchanged gunfire, with the suspect, and that s when sergeant helus was shot several times. he was totally committed. he gave his all. and tonight, as i told his wife, he died a hero because he went he went in to save lives, to save other people. america s latest mass murderer was a veteran of the united states marines who served
we are a community in mourning, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost loved wupz, and we re here to support you in any way that we can. now i would like to introduce special agent in charge of the los angeles atf office, bill mcmullen. good afternoon, i m the atf special unit in charge of the los angeles field division. on behalf of the men and women at atf i would also like to send our condolences to the victims and family members who are trying to get through this tragedy together as they get through the healing process. i would also like to recognize the leadership of sheriff dean and the entire vent rah county sheriff s department as they were going through the same emotions and trying to fine the
with the families who have lost loved ones. and we are here to support you and to help you in any way that we can. i d now like to introduce special agent in charge of the los angeles atf office, bill mcmullen. good afternoon. my name is bill mcmullan, the atf special agent in charge. on behalf of the men and women of atf, i d also like to send our condolences to the victims and family members who are trying to get through this tragedy together as they get through the healing process. i d also like to recognize the leadership of sheriff dean and the entire ventura county sheriff s department as they are going through the same emotions. but somehow finding the strength to bring together all the state, local and federal agencies who responded here to work together
sheriff dean if beyond just naming his militia after the boosk exodus, he was also motivated by an expectation of the rapture by the end of days, sheriff dean declined to comment on that. joining us now is frank shaffer, author of crazy for god and a blogger for the huffington post. thanks very much for joining us tonight. i appreciate your time. my pleasure. thanks for having me on, rachel. operation exodus draws its name from the book of exodus in the bible, the sheriff explains that in his press release. what do you make of linking an effort like this to the old testament? well, it s kind of symbolic because the story of exodus is the jews the people of god fleeing an unjust ruler so obviously it s a backhanded comment about the united states government, barack obama, what have you. and in my mind it links up with the sheriffs who at the c-pac meeting a couple weeks ago took an oath to break the law and not follow orders if they don t like what they re told. really this is j
location attack on our nation at any given moment. and no matter whether we are a direct target or not, fear and panic will still permeate our community. control will have to be regained to ensure the safety of our residents. that s where operation exodus comes into play. see, the 195 white guys in town who are just given guns by the sheriff? they re supposed to reduce your fear. same with the .50-caliber thingy on the war wagon thingy. reducing the fear. the shreveport times asked sheriff dean if beyond just naming his militia after the book of exodus, he was also motivated by an expectation of the rapture by the end of days, sheriff dean declined to comment on that. joining us now is frank schaeffer, author of crazy for god and a blogger for the huffington post. thanks very much for joining us tonight. i appreciate your time. my pleasure. thanks for having me on, rachel. operation exodus draws its name from the book of exodus in