Bar gunman was 'out of control' in high school, coach says

A second high school coach of the gunman who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar recalled him as volatile and intimidating, and said that repeated complaints to school administrators about his behaviour failed to prompt any discipline.

Evie Cluke coached Ian David Long on Newbury Park High School's track team in 2007 and 2008.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, she said Long was a "ticking time bomb" who 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.

That coach, Dominique Colell, said Long grabbed her rear and midsection after she refused to return a cellphone. Another time, he used his hand to mimic shooting her, Colell said, adding that she feared for herself whenever she was around him.

Cluke said she also 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." Cluke said. "Just sadistic. ... He was out of control.

He would scream and cuss and his face would turn bright red and people would actually back away from him."
"You need to do something about this kid. He needs some help." Cluke said she told administrators. "And they're like, 'Well, he's got a good heart he'll be fine. Just talk to him.'"
Cluke recalled a time when she and her father sat down with Long for a talk and asked him why he wanted to join the military. His answer, she said, "is burned in my soul."
"He said he wanted to be in the Marines because he wanted to go fight in the war for our country and he wanted to kill for our country," she said. "When you hear somebody say they want to be in the military because they want to kill people in the name of our country, that's chilling. It chilled me right down to my bones."