Ceramic Sculptures Installed In Memory Of Borderline Shooting Victims On Second Anniversary
THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA) -- A memorial outside the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks where 12 people were shot and killed in 2018 continues to grow heading into the second anniversary of the deadly shooting.
"I spend a lot of time up here," said Ken Dunham, the father of victim Jake Dunham. "This is where I like to be."
Every few weeks, Dunham visits the site where he lost his son, calling the entire ordeal "unfathomable" nearly two years later
During his latest visit on the eve of the second anniversary of the shooting, Dunham hung a piece of art in honor of Jake.
"It's another year of loss, another year without," he said. "It's something we have to continue to deal with."
The 12 people killed that night in the country-western bar on Nov. 7, 2018, were Jake Dunham, Sgt. Ron Helus, Sean Adler, Cody Coffman, Blake Dingman, Alaina Housley, Daniel Manrique, Justin Meek, Kristina Morisette, Telemachus Orfanos, Mark Meza, and Noel Sparks.
"It feels like it never happened sometimes and it's still kind of, like, it hasn't settled. I don't think it ever will, really settle or feel like it's a real thing," said Hayley Kassel, a friend of one of the victims.
To add to the growing memorial outside the bar, 12 ceramic totems -- in honor of each victim -- were created by a local artist and installed last week.
"They know the kids are not here but the name is going to stay forever," said the artist Ali Alinejad.
Alinejad and his wife, Esther, are local ceramic artists who spent a year and over $1,000 creating the 8 ft. tall sculptures in memory of the 12 Borderline Bar & Grill victims.
The inspiration came after the couple learned one of their former ceramic students, Noel Sparks, was killed that evening in the shooting.
"We know all of these kids and the reaction to our community was this," Alinejad said. "As an artist, I had to do something and this is what we could do."
