Sheriff's deputies knew him as a cop's cop, one who would "go to the ends of the earth" to solve a crime. To family and friends, Ron Helus was a devoted husband and father who loved to go fly fishing with his son.
On Thursday, Helus will be hailed as a hero — a man who courageously sacrificed his own life to save others' when he raced into a Southern California bar crackling with gunfire and immediately engaged the shooter in a firefight.
The act would take Helus' life when he was struck by several bullets, but it would also allow others a few precious moments to escape. In all, 13 people died, including the gunman, who killed himself.
Cody Gifford-Coffman, who was killed in the Borderline Bar & Grill mass shooting, is remembered during a service at Perez Family Chapel in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday night, Nov. 14, 2018. He and 11 others were slain Nov. 7 when a gunman attacked the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., during a country music dance night that drew area college students and other young people. (Sarah ReingewirtzThe Orange County Register via AP)
"There's no doubt that they saved lives by going in there," former Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean, who retired last Friday, said of the actions of Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer who followed him through the door.
Helus' funeral was scheduled for noon at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, followed by burial at a nearby cemetery. Gov. Jerry Brown was among those expected to attend.
A funeral was held Wednesday night in Camarillo for another of the victims, 22-year-old Cody Gifford-Coffman, who was shot as he warned others to flee. He was remembered warmly as a man with a goofy sense of humor who loved fishing and baseball.
Cody Gifford-Coffman, who was killed in the Borderline Bar & Grill mass shooting, is remembered during a service at Perez Family Chapel in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. The 22-year-old was among a dozen people killed in a Nov. 7 shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Sarah ReingewirtzThe Orange County Register via AP)
"I am honestly, truly broken," said his father, Jason Coffman. "He didn't deserve it."
Thursday's funeral for Helus was taking place in Westwood Village, just a few miles from the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks that the veteran sheriff's sergeant hurried to following a report of gunfire there shortly before midnight on Nov. 7. It was college night at the popular venue and the place was packed with young people.
"Hey, I got to go handle a call. I love you. I'll talk to you later," he said as he ended a phone call with his wife.
Joushmane Tate leaves after paying his respects to Cody Coffman at a funeral service Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, in Camarillo, Calif. Coffman was killed in a Nov. 7 shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong)
"The fact that he was the first in the door doesn't surprise me at all," said sheriff's Sgt. Eric Buschow, a colleague and longtime friend. "He's just one of those guys who wouldn't hesitate in a situation.
"Patient. Calm no matter what," Buschow added. "When you call 911, he's one of the guys you want showing up."
Helus, 54, was a 29-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department who had planned to retire next year.
Photos of Cody Coffman are placed on a table at Coffman's funeral service Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, in Camarillo, Calif. Coffman was among a dozen people killed in a Nov. 7 shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong)
An avid fly fisherman who loved the outdoors, he posted photos of himself and his son fishing on his Facebook page, which since his death has been set to legacy status.
One friend jokingly posted last summer that Helus seemed to spend so much of his spare time at streams looking for fish that he must be part bear.
"As a matter of fact, I am part bear," he replied. "I've probably had 200 bear and three mountain lion encounters. Bring 'em on! I love em!"
At work, he took on many of the Sheriff's Department's toughest assignments, working on the SWAT team and in narcotics and investigations.
"If you were a victim of a crime, you want him investigating the case," Buschow said. "He would go to the ends of the earth to find a suspect."
After he died, hundreds of people lined the streets to pay their respects as a hearse carried his body from Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks to a coroner's office.
Many, including medical personnel and law enforcement officers, wept and placed their hands over their hearts as the hearse passed. Firefighters assembled two ladder trucks to hang a giant American flag in Helus' honor over the route.
Helus' survivors include his wife, Karen, and son, Jordan.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A $8 billion defense package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives over the weekend will “strengthen the deterrence against authoritarianism in the West Pacific ally chain,” Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te said Tuesday, in a reference to key rival China.
The funding will also “help ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and also boost confidence in the region” Lai, currently Taiwan’s vice president, told visiting Michigan Representatives Lisa McClain, a Republican, and Democrat Dan Kildee at a meeting at the Presidential Office Building in the capital Taipei.
In the face of “authoritarian expansionism,” Taiwan is “determined to safeguard democracy and also safeguard our homeland," Lai said.
Also known as William Lai, U.S.-educated former medical researcher is despised by Beijing for his opposition to political unification with the mainland. In recent elections, the pro-unification Nationalists won a narrow majority in the legislature, but their influence on foreign policy and other national issues remains limited.
The Senate will vote Tuesday on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The package covers a wide range of parts and services aimed at maintaining and and upgrading Taiwan's military hardware. Separately, Taiwan has signed billions in contracts with the U.S. for latest-generation F-16V fighter jets, M1 Abrams main battle tanks and the HIMARS rocket system, which the U.S. has also supplied to Ukraine.
Taiwan has also been expanding its own defense industry, building submarines and trainer jets. Next month it plans to commission its third and fourth domestically designed and built stealth corvettes to counter the Chinese navy. as part of a strategy of asymmetrical warfare in which a smaller force counters its larger opponent by using cutting edge or nonconventional tactics and weaponry.
Lai, of the pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party, won the January election handily and takes over next month from President Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing has sought to isolate for the past eight years.
China is determined to annex the island, which it considers its own territory, by force if necessary and has been advertising that threat with daily incursions into waters and air space around Taiwan by navy ships and warplanes. It has also sought to pick away Taiwan's few remaining formal diplomatic partners.
While Washington and Taipei have no formal diplomatic ties in deference to Beijing, McClain emphasized the need for the entire world to observe the strength of the relationship.
“Peace is our goal. But to do that, we have to have relationships and we value your relationship. Not only militarily, but economically,” she said.
Kildee said the timing of the visit was especially significant given the recent passage of the funding bill to “provide very important support to insure security in this region.”
"It’s important for the people of Taiwan, it’s important for the people in the United States, it’s important for the entire world,” Kildee said.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, from left Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee, Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Mark Alford, center left, a member of the House Armed Services Committee shakes hands with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, U.S. Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee, left, meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Kildee and Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Lisa McClain, left, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Lisa McClain, left, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
