He died as a hero police officer going into direct gunfire to save others
Ron Helus
Within minutes of 911 calls about a gunman in a crowded bar, Sgt. Ron Helus of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office was there to confront the shooter.
Gunfire erupted, and Helus was hit multiple times.
“He was totally committed; he gave his all,” Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said. “He died a hero. . . . He went in to save lives — to save other people.”
Helus is survived by a wife and a son, Dean said.
He had served nearly 30 years with the force and was one year from retirement. His colleagues reacted with “utter disbelief” to his death, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eric Buschow.
“It’s shocking. It’s tragic,” Buschow said. “I’m still numb. I haven’t processed it.”
Helus lived in Moorpark, Calif., and was an avid outdoorsman whose Facebook page was full of photos of snowy mountains, fishing trips, waterfalls, the serene waters of the San Joaquin River and family. On some backcountry trips, he would see more bald eagles and deer than people, he said on Facebook.
“I’ve probably had 200 bear and 3 mountain lion encounters,” Helus told a Facebook friend who jokingly asked if he were part animal.
Helus was the owner and founder of a business that educated people in safe and legal gun use, called Gun Control: Firearms Training and CCW Instruction, according to his Facebook page.
Helus did what he was trained to do, Dean said. The 1999 killings at Columbine High School in Colorado transformed the way law enforcement responds to active-shooter incidents, Dean explained. Before then, officers and first responders secured a perimeter and waited.
Now, training has emphasized aggressive pursuit of suspects before they kill more people or target those already wounded.
“When you get to a scene, and there’s two of you, or even just one of you, and there’s shooting going on, you go in,” Dean said.
Dean choked up when asked how the department will honor Helus.
“It’s so tragic losing Ron,” Dean said. “We go to the gym together, work out together. It’s horrific and terrible, and it saddens our hearts.”
One thing was clear, colleagues said: Helus was heroic.
“There’s nothing else you can call it,” Buschow said. “Ron didn’t wait — he went in.”
Helus graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2016 with a master’s degree in administrative leadership from the school’s College of Professional and Continuing Studies, according to a university spokeswoman.
Helus was an excellent student devoted to making the world a better and safer place, according to Martha Banz, the school’s Extended Campus interim dean and associate provost.
“He was a ‘shining star’ student,” she said, “one of the best and most responsible I’ve ever had.”
Banz said Helus had planned to pursue doctoral work after he retired and that “it was clear that he was a person of impeccable character and integrity — wise, compassionate, reflective and insightful.”
Helus had three favorite quotes, Banz said: “It’s not about me,” “There’s no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend,” and “Live your life so that the fear of death never enters your heart.”
“Given those bedrock principles, I’m not at all surprised by his heroic actions, sacrificing his own life to save others. He loved his family and friends deeply, and I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of loss his family is experiencing,” she said.
—Alex Horton, Lindsey Bever and Susan Svrluga
"Helus was the owner and founder of a business that educated people in safe and legal gun use, called Gun Control: Firearms Training and CCW Instruction, according to his Facebook page. "
Good job officer! Well done a hero in life and the way you left us
The Washington Post, The faces of the victims, RIP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/thousand-oaks-shooting-victims/?utm_term=.95e1fcd6ceaa
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