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Crime Oct 07, 2023
Body-worn camera footage show Orange County deputies approaching the fatally wounded suspect in the Cook's Corner mass shooting. | Photo courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff's Department/YouTube
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Department released video Friday of the response to the mass shooting at Cook’s Corner bar in Trabuco Canyon, where a gunman killed three people and injured six others before being fatally shot by deputies.
The shooting occurred Aug. 23 at the well-known bar and biker hangout in the 19100 block of Santiago Canyon Road.
The gunman, 59-year-old retired Ventura Police Department Sgt. John Snowling, entered the bar carrying two handguns and walked directly to his estranged wife, Marie, who had filed for divorce last year, and shot her once, according to sheriff’s officials. She was hit in the jaw but survived.
Snowling then shot other at bar patrons, killing Tonya Clark, 49, of Scottsdale, Arizona; Glen Sprowl Jr., 53, of Stanton; and John Leehey, 67, of Irvine.
The newly released video from the sheriff’s department contains footage from a private security camera, showing patrons outside the bar running from the gunfire. Snowling is then seen holding two handguns and opening fire.
The sheriff’s department also released video from body-worn cameras from the responding deputies. The video shows deputies arriving at the Cook’s Corner and locating the suspect behind a tree. Within five seconds of their arrival, the suspect shoots at the deputies, who take cover behind their patrol vehicles.
The video then shows deputies exchanging gunfire with Snowling for more than five minutes. When the suspect stops returning fire, the video shows a team of deputies advancing toward Snowling, where he’s found behind a tree with multiple gunshot wounds.
The video shows deputies place him in handcuffs. Snowling was pronounced dead the scene.
The released video also contains several 911 calls.
“There’s more gunshots happening right now. You need to get somebody over there immediately,” a caller can be heard pleading.
“Everybody’s getting shot at Cook’s Corner … he’s up on the upper parking lot,” another caller is heard in the video.
Cook’s Corner was closed following the mass shooting. The bar reopened on Aug. 31.
