Getty / Apu Gomes
The gunman who killed 12 people in the Thousand Oaks shooting was described as “sadistic” and a “ticking time bomb” by a former coach, who said that repeated complaints to school administrators about his intimidating and volatile behavior were ignored. Evie Cluke said she coached shooter Ian David Long on Newbury Park High School’s track team between 2007 and 2008. In an interview with the Associated Press, she said Long constantly lost his temper, threw tantrums, and would scream at coaches when he didn’t like their decisions. She said she once witnessed him assault a fellow coach, Dominique Colell, who said Long once used his hand to mimic shooting her. Cluke said she witnessed Long pretending to shoot Colell: “When Dominique turned around and saw that, she turned pale as a ghost and it was very, very scary.” Long is believed to have killed himself as police moved in on the scene of the shooting.