Man at Thousand Oaks Shooting Shares His Story That Destroys the Media's Narrative
A young man who says he was one of the survivors of the Thousand Oaks, California shooting that claimed a dozen lives says he should have been armed to stop it.
The killing occurred at the Borderline Bar & Grill in the city roughly 40 miles west of Los Angeles, which was packed due to a college night promotion. Among the dead was a sheriff’s deputy. The alleged shooter, who killed himself, was a Marine Corps veteran who had a previous run-in with police earlier this year in which his mental stability was called into question.
Alex Chatoff, a student at California Lutheran University, says that he was one of the people there Wednesday night. He also said that if he were exercising his Second Amendment rights, the death toll wouldn’t have been anywhere near what it was.
First, let me say that we’re going to heavily qualify his report. We don’t have any confirmation that he was at the scene. It was also posted at Liberty Hangout, a site whose editorial vetting standards I will charitably describe as, um, not ours. I’ll also note that he offered to talk to national media sources — in particular Fox News.
I was there, and I’m willing to talk to news sources @FoxNews
— Alex Chatoff🇺🇸 (@TheChatoff) November 8, 2018
Only Liberty Hangout and his college newspaper seem to have taken him up on this. What this means — and whether or not it casts some doubt on his story — is up in the air. He’s tweeted about it multiple times, however, and we haven’t seen him called out anywhere, so there’s that. It’s an important story to hear, which is why we present it — although we merely say caveat lector.
This young man broke my window and caught me and my friends and got us to safety. He saved my life. https://t.co/VOGQMKKVMx
— Alex Chatoff (@TheChatoff) November 8, 2018
“Last night I went to the country bar Borderline in Thousand Oaks, California with my girlfriend Ally and her two friends. I am 20 years old and have lived in Thousand Oaks my whole life. I currently go to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and am a sophomore,” Chatoff said.
“We were having a great time, until at about 11:20 pm when shots started going off. Smoke grenades were thrown by the entrance, which limited my view of the shooter. It was a pistol I believe, and as the shots started, my girlfriend and I ducked behind the DJ booth.
“Next to us was a window that leads to the parking lot, so we broke the window. Me, my girlfriend and her two friends jumped out the window as shots continued to ring out. I got a bad cut on my wrist and went to the hospital to get treated. My girlfriend was fine, but one of my girlfriend’s friends needed stitches from the broken glass in her leg and arm.”
Thank you everyone that has reached out to me. Only thing I need is prayer for me, my girlfriend, and all the survivors or people who did not make it. Thank you alll for your support
— Alex Chatoff🇺🇸 (@TheChatoff) November 8, 2018
“I believe this area was a gun free zone, and although there was security, I don’t believe any were armed. I do know that one security officer was killed right when the shooting started,” he continued.
“If just one person was armed, there is a possibility that it could have been stopped then and there. This is why gun free zones are a danger to us all, and if someone had been there armed, those people would still be alive.
“Thank God the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department got there very quickly and took down the shooter. Me, my girlfriend Ally, and her friends are safe and okay, but are very shaken up.”
Again, veracity claims aside, he’s not wrong — gun-free zones are invitations to these kinds of shootings. If this were Texas, if this were an establishment where the target wasn’t so soft, would a mass killer have gone for it? It doesn’t seem as likely. Yet the media only presents this as an issue of gun control vs. banning guns.
There are so many questions that need to be answered after Thousand Oaks. However, the one and only answer for liberals is gun control. Yet, this shows exactly why that’s not the answer. Our reflexive desire to do anything, even if it’s the wrong thing, will almost certainly end up costing many more lives than it saves.
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