Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ron Helus faced the threat and saved lives
LAS VEGAS — Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ron Helus responded to an active shooter call at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California and arrived on the scene in three minutes on November 8.
Upon arrival, Helus along with a California Highway Patrol Officer heard the gunshots and without hesitation went through the front door and confronted the shooter.
Helus was shot several times in the firefight with the gunman and was pulled from the bar by the highway patrol officer that he had entered with.
Sadly, Helus died later at a hospital.
Eleven patrons of the Borderline Bar and Grill were killed, and 10 others suffered injuries. The gunman committed suicide inside the bar.
Sgt. Ron Helus is a true blue hero.
His actions during the active shooter incident that fateful night saved the lives of countless others.
Helus and the highway patrolman didn’t stand by and wait for backup.
They knew that the bar was filled with people who were under fire and did what society expects any law enforcement officer to do in a similar circumstance; react to the threat and save lives to the best of your ability.
No one wants to see any law enforcement officer lose their life in the line of duty, however, that is an inherent risk that goes with the job.
When you take that oath to protect the public and pin that badge on your uniform every day before you go off to work, you accept the fact that the day might come when you have to put your life in jeopardy to save the lives of others.
Like hundreds of thousands of others, when I was on the job, I accepted that responsibility. That’s what I got paid to do. Nobody forced me to become a cop. I wasn’t under a contract, I could have left the job any time I wanted if I found myself questioning my devotion to the profession.
Helus’ actions were in sharp contrast to the inaction of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Field Training Officer Cordell Hendrex on the night of the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas Massacre.
Hendrex, along with his partner, Eliff Varsin, and three armed Mandalay Bay Hotel security supervisors retreated on the 31st floor, one floor below gunman Stephen Paddock and failed to make any attempt at all to reach Paddock as his gunfire was ongoing.
Hendrex and Varsin’s police radios were blaring the horror that was occurring at the Route 91 Harvest music festival across Las Vegas Boulevard.
For several minutes as they retreated on the 31st floor, they all heard the radio traffic that officers were pinned down, taking fire and that innocent civilians were being shot and killed.
As other police officers where risking their lives to get into the Mandalay Bay Hotel to reach the shooter to stop the threat, Hendrex and his armed contingent remained safely on the 31st floor and took no action.
Remember 58 people died and over 400 were hit by gunfire on October 1, 2017.
Sgt. Ron Helus didn’t freeze.
Sgt. Ron Helus didn’t hesitate.
Sgt. Ron Helus didn’t stop to pray.
Sgt. Ron Helus didn’t retreat.
Sgt. Ron Helus knew exactly what he had to do.
Because of the actions of Sgt. Ron Helus and the highway patrolman, lives were saved on the night of November 8, 2018 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Doug authored over 135 articles on the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas Massacre, more than any other single journalist in the country. He investigates stories on corruption, law enforcement and crime. Doug is a US Army Military Police Veteran, former police officer, deputy sheriff and criminal investigator. Doug spent 20 years in the hotel/casino industry as an investigator and then as Director of Security and Surveillance. He also spent a short time with the US Dept. of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration. In 1986 Doug was awarded Criminal Investigator of the Year by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia for his undercover work in narcotics enforcement. In 1992 and 1993 Doug testified in court that a sheriff’s office official and the county prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence during the 1988 trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of his wife. Doug’s testimony led to a judge’s decision to order the release of the man from prison in 1992 and awarded him a new trial, in which he was later acquitted. As a result of Doug breaking the police “blue wall of silence,” he was fired by the county sheriff. His story was featured on Inside Edition, Current Affair and CBS News’ “Street Stories with Ed Bradley”. In 1992 after losing his job, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Doug infiltrated a group of men who were plotting the kidnapping of a Dupont fortune heir and his wife. Doug has been a guest on national television and radio programs speaking on the stories he now writes as an investigative journalist.