tonight, college night massacre, the chilling new video inside that california bar. >> coming out this door. >> 12 people killed, including the brave deputy who rushed in. inside the terror as they tried to escape. >> the shots kept going and going and going. >> and as the names of the victims emerge, one parent's heartbreak. >> only him and i know how much i loved -- how much i miss him. >> the suspect, a young marine veteran. what we're now learning about his troubled past and the failed attempts to get him help. also tonight, basketball, a love story, the new 20-hour film showcasing the nba's history on

the hardwood, the controversies -- >> if you live in a racist society, you naturally have to react to racism. >> playing out on and off the court. how the game has evolved and how the league has become a champion of equality. but first, here are the "nightline" five. " five.

it's "gaming with america's best internet provider" internet. just any internet. it's "all your teenagers streaming at once" internet. it's "i can get up to one-two-three-four-five mobile lines included" internet. it's internet from xfinity that makes your life... simple. easy. awesome. get a special offer on xfinity internet and tv for $35 each a month for 12 months when you bundle both, and ask how you can save on your wireless bill when you include xfinity mobile click, call or visit a store today.

good evening, and we begin here with horrifying new video of the latest mass murder in this country. it happened in thousand oaks, california, at a popular bar hosting college night. young people line dancing to country music when a troubled marine veteran came in f >> i just started hearing these big pops. pop, pop, pop. >> the shots kept going and going and going. we just heard people saying, run, and we booked it as fast as we could. >> it was sheer panic. everyone ran and dropped as fast as they could. >> we got multiple people down. we need a lot of ambulances. >> and the gunman was throwing smoke grenades. >> reporter: the shots rang out during college country night at the borderline bar and grill in thousand oaks, california. this video capturing the moment. watch as the camera shakes. that piercing sound? it's gunfire. [ gunshots ] then, silence.

for six endless seconds. now, listen. they run for their lives. >> guys, run, he's coming out this door! >> reporter: countless heroes inside the bar helping to create escape routes, like matt, who helped rescue scores of people by smashing a window with a bar stool. >> we were just pushing people through, as many as we could, kind of quickly checking back to make sure that he wasn't coming towards us. >> reporter: 12 killed, including a police sergeant. >> he died a hero because he went -- he went in to save lives. >> reporter: jason coffman, his son, cody, one of the victims. >> last thing i said was, son, i love you. that was the last thing i said. >> reporter: the shooter, now identified as 28-year-old ian david long, a war veteran. authorities are now trying to determine why and how this could

happen in a community that just this year was named one of the safest in america. it was just before 11:30 p.m. and more than 100 people gathered to enjoy live country music. look at this past video, posted on the bar's youtube page, illustrating what country night is normally like. anyone 18 or older is invited to attend. but instead of country music, gunshots. the gunman, dressed in all black, and was armed with a block .45 caliber pistol with an extended magazine. witnesses say he threw some kind of smoke bomb and began firing into the crowd. >> he shot the doorman first. and then he to the young cashier and he shot her. >> in a split second, everyone yelled, get down, and everyone pretty much dog piled on top of each other. >> reporter: amid the chaos, the voice of a young man calling home. >> mom, dad, this is matt. there's been a shooting at

borderline. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies arrived within minutes. and engaged the suspect in a fire fight. sergeant ron helus, a 29-year veteran of the force, was the first one in. patrons rushing out of the bar, trying to carry friends and strangers to first responders. >> we just tried to get out, get behind a car, get behind something. >> we just tried to take cover. >> by the grace of god, i was able to get to the front door. i saw him at the front door. i'm lucky to be alive. >> reporter: lucky to be alive, a sentiment once again shared by far too many young people. >> i'm too scared. >> reporter: you're too scared? >> i may not go to school tomorrow. >> reporter: her night was all about celebrating. it was her 21st birthday. as mayhem ensued around her, nelly found herself hiding behind a bar stool and in that moment, she joined another club, a terrible one, and no longer rare. those who have survived a mass shooting. >> reporter: what were you

thinking while you were hiding? >> what is going on? why tonight? why now? >> reporter: the alleged shooter's motive, unknown. >> we believe he shot himself. when the officers went in and made reentry, they found him already deceased. >> reporter: long, a marine combat veteran, served for five years. his mother's facebook page proudly shows photos of him in uniform. he served a tour in afghanistan as a machine gunner. long's facebook photos paint a picture of a smiling young man. another photo shows him at a music festival. but his neighbors describe a very different person who was often heard arguing with his mother. >> they used to argue back and forth quite loud. >> reporter: neighbor donald mclloyd lives next door to long. >> one night, about 8:00, 9:0atd like gunshot, and i told my wife, told -- told put the light on. just stay down. >> reporter: today, the fbi was at long's house, removing evidence. neighbor richard burg said he

tried to talk to long's mother about getting her son help. >> i said, can't you get help? she said, well, he doesn't want to get help. >> reporter: police say they've had several run-ins with long. they even considered him for a 5150 which allows authorities to involuntarily hold someone they feel is a danger to themselves or others. >> in april of this year, deputies were called to his house. he was somewhat irate and acting a little irrationally. they called out our crisis intervention team, our mental health specialists, who met with him, talked to him and cleared him, didn't feel that he was qualified to be taken under 5150. >> reporter: it's unclear if police knew if he had a gun at the time. >> there are a growing number of examples around the country where law enforcement is able to step in, to assess the risk posed by an individual, and to take steps to prevent an attack. in some cases, it's providing a person access to mental health services. it could also include taking

steps to prevent access to firearms. >> reporter: but even when authorities do take action against people they view as a danger to themselves or the community, things can still turn deadly. >> sheriff's office. >> reporter: last new year's eve, colorado police tried to take 37-year-old matthew reel in for a mental health hold. the scene was captured on police body cam footage. >> we're going to take him. >> for what? >> a mental health hold is when the officers have gotten on scene, he was throwing things off his balcony, yelling and screaming. >> reporter: unbeknownst to the officers, he was armed with a rifle. >> sheriff's office. >> reporter: when they tried to take him in, he opens fire, shooting three officers, killing one. he was eventually killed in a shootout with police. as these scenes continue to play out across america, the sheriff here in ventura county tries to

make sense of yet another tragedy. >> it's very frustrating for all of us when you can find no rhyme or reason for this completely inexplicable loss of life. >> reporter: in honor of the fallen sergeant, hundreds lined the streets to pay their respects. ♪ amazing grace >> reporter: vigils in honor of those lost. >> we hold the hands of everyone in our community, and we come together to move forward and overcome evil with good. >> reporter: among the other victims, 18-year-old alai alaina housley, a freshman at pepperdine university. tonight, her family says alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her. and 23-year-old justin meek. tonight, he is credited with heroically saving lives during the tragedy. blake was 21. tonight, his girlfriend writing,

my heart is hurting more than words can say. i cannot believe you're gone. i'm so grateful for our little infinity. tyler and zach lost two of their friends. one of them had escaped death just a year before during the las vegas shooting. what do you want people to know about the two friends that you lost? >> they were some of the best people that i've ever met. >> reporter: really? >> they would give you the shirt off their back in a heartbeat. >> reporter: jason coffman showed a picture of his son, cody, early this morning. at the time, still searching, still praying, and a few hours later, his worst fear confirmed. >> we did just get the news that he was one of the 11 that were hit and killed last night. only him and i know how much i love -- how much i miss him. oh, god. >> reporter: for "nightline," thousand oaks, california.

next here, we're going to switch gears entirely. the love, loyalty, and controversy within the nba. inside a new documentary called "basketball: a love story." [woman 1] this... [woman 2] ..this... [man 1] ...this is my body of proof. [man 2] proof of less joint pain... [woman 3] ...and clearer skin. [man 3] proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... [woman 4] ...with humira. [woman 5] humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. [avo] humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores.

don't start humira if you have an infection. [woman 6] ask your rheumatologist about humira. [woman 7] go to mypsaproof.com to see proof in action. whether you were borne for more dance-offs... more travels... or more touchdowns. get the immune support that gives you more. airborne gummies have 50% more vitamin-c than emergen-c... plus our crafted blend of vitamins, minerals and herbs. airborne. stop fearing your alarm clock... with zzzquil pure zzzs.

a drug-free blend of botanicals with melatonin that supports your natural sleep cycle so you can seize the morning. zzzquil pure zzzs.

♪ ♪ connecting people... ...uniting the world. ♪♪ (music throughout)

>> reporter: a perfect swish.

a gravity-defying dunk. seemingly super human athletes. >> you know everything's in rhythm. >> reporter: there's a reason it's called the beautiful game. >> it was like the gates of heaven just opened up. >> reporter: a game so beloved, it's like an addiction. >> in my family, we still call it basketball fever. it's like you have to play all the time. >> reporter: from the driveway. >> i started playing on a crate, cut the bottom out, nailed it to the light pole. >> reporter: to the hardwood. >> the squeak of the shoes and then that magic sound, swish. >> reporter: now, the subject of espn's epic 20-hour film series, "basketball: a love story," featuring some of the biggest names in the game. >> my name is lebron james. >> kobe bryant. >> magic johnson. >> reporter: the film chronicles hoops for over half a century, tapping into pivotal pressure points like racial injustice. >> i felt like we was in a hostile situation. all the news reporters was

fighting. cheerleaders was fighting. the whole bench of the other team was all white. only colored person i seen was on my side. >> reporter: basketball came of age during the civil rights movement. early the pearl monroe, a legendry new york knick is hall of famer is one of the producers of the film. what was that like for you at the time? >> i mean, i played in north carolina in college, and there were places that you could go and places that you couldn't go. well, that was just the times. >> reporter: soon, stars of the game like kareem abdul jabar started to advocate for social change. >> kareem abdul jabar says i'm going to boycott, i don't want to go to the olympics in '68. >> if you live in a racist society, you naturally have to react to racism if you are attacked. you naturally give a reaction. >> these guys are saying, i'm not going to play for the u.s. because of racism.

that's a momentous thing. >> reporter: athletes today are following in abdul jabar's footsteps, protesting police brutality in the wake of eric garner's death. and after president trump relentlessly criticized nfl players for kneeling during the national anthem, rivals steph curry and lebron james backed each other up, refusing to visit the white house. >> i mean, i know no matter who wins this series, no one's -- no one wants to invite anybody. so it won't be golden state or cleveland going. >> i agree with bron. >> reporter: dan is the director of the film. >> people have the right to say what they want and it's great that people are speaking up. there's nothing wrong with that. it's tremendous. >> reporter: but given the platform, given the times, do you think they have a responsibility to step up and speak up? >> i think the main thing that a player should always do is just be a role model. you don't have to speak up. you just have to live the right way. >> reporter: unlike the nfl, which has been riled by its

response to players kneeling for the anthem, the nba has mostly been supportive of players' activism. >> they're much more in tune with the times, with the culture, with the politics of the day. they're not a bunch of billionaire owners from another sport sitting around with the same complexion say, hey, we got to stop this guy from kneeling. >> reporter: from race to gender, the film exposes the rocky past to equality in the game. >> i learned very early on that basketball was very different for me. because i was a girl. it was okay for me to score 20 but wasn't a man's 20. so i said, oh, so my 20's not good enough? all right, i'll score 105. >> reporter: women had to struggle for their place on the court. >> i wish there was somebody who looked like me. i wish there was a woman playing somewhere that was on tv every week and was showing little girls how to play hoops, but

that wasn't life then. that wasn't life in the '70s, '80s and early part of the '90s. >> reporter: the wnba was a big step forward, founded in 1996 after the u.s. women's olympic team and a young rebecca lobo won gold in atlanta. >> it was so much bigger than that. we didn't realize we were a test bubble, essentially, for the wnba. >> reporter: the birth of the first major women's professional sports league in the country was not without growing pains. >> we tried to conform the image of this league to what we thought the fans wanted. ♪ >> the first video shoot of the wnba, they had me, like, pull my hair down, lipstick. i had a [ bleep ] halter top on. i never felt so bad in my life. >> it was weird but we were just so happy that we had a place to play. we were willing to do pretty much anything. >> reporter: overall, the league opened doors to female ballers. >> the wnba is a success both in turnout and in tv ratings. >> reporter: our own was there

to cover the inaugural season. >> in my wildest dreechams, i couldn't have thought it would be this good. >> this was all new to us and not something any of us had thought about because it didn't exist when we were growing up. it would have been a pipe dream. >> reporter: what has the wnba added to the growth and the love of the game of basketball? >> it's an experiment that has worked. you know, you got all these critics, oh, they don't play as well as men. they're not supposed to play -- it's a different game. look what the wnba has meant to the culture, to young women, to girls. it's all about a host of other doors that are opening and have opened on every conceivable level that give to people what they need, pride, encouragement, hope, and confidence. >> reporter: those feelings intrinsic to the game itself. you stand in right center court in the garden now, n.at feeling.

>> reporter: back on the court he loves. his next jersey, proudly hanging from the rafters. >> looking up at my number is always a great thing. >> reporter: a game of individuality, yet teamwork, greatness, yet equality. and most of all, a game of love. >> it's a story about basketball being a global common denominator. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm t.j. holmes in madison square garden. our thanks to t.j. and "basketball: a love story" can be found on the espn app and the two final episodes ai tudaat:00 next, news about an abc news exclusive. luckily for all your hard-to-wash fabrics... ...there's febreze fabric refresher. febreze doesn't just mask, it eliminates odors you've...

...gone noseblind to. and try febreze unstopables for fabric. with up to twice the fresh scent power, you'll want to try it... ...again and again and maybe just one more time. indulge in irresistible freshness. febreze unstopables. breathe happy. how's your cough? i'm good. i took 12-hour mucinex and sent it far away. hey buddy, have you seen a nice woman with a cough? woahhh! mucinex dm releases fast and lasts 12-hours, not 4. send coughs far away all day. for just fifteen ninety-nine at red lobster. you get all the shrimp you want, any way you want them. and now savory parmesan shrimp scampi is back! new sesame-ginger shrimp is here, too. but hurry in, endless shrimp ends november eighteenth.

with my bladder leakage, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were too loose. it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with a range of sizes, depend fit-flex is made for me. with a range of sizes for all body types, depend fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. 98% of us don't get enough omega-3s. which is why megared advanced 4in1 packs more omega-3 power into one small softgel. it supports your heart... brain... eyes... and joints. megared.

well, it's a whole day's worth of love songs. or 300 minutes of baby videos. a gig goes a long way. that's why xfinity mobile lets you pay for data one gig at a time. and with millions of wifi hotspots included, you'll pay even less for data. or if you need a lot we have unlimited too. plus, get $200 back when you buy a new smart phone. it's simple, easy, awesome. click, call or visit a store today.

and finally here to a invitation to watch something we're pretty excited about around here. >> sunday night at 9/8 central on abc, an interview eight years in the making. >> what do you wish you could tell your pre-white house self? >> oh. >> michelle obama, the

interview, exclusive. >> for the first ti, you are really opening up about a lot that people don't know. >> a first lady's journey. "becoming michelle obama" with robin roberts, the television event special, this sunday on abc. at this fraught moment in american politics, a lot of people will be interested to hear what the former first lady has to say. we hope you will watch and we thank you for watching "nightline" tonight. have a great night.