Dominique Colell, who was the high school track and field coach to Thousand Oaks shooter Ian David Long, says Long sexually assaulted her while in high school.
Long opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night, killing 12 people, police said. Colell was watching news of the shooting when she heard the name of the shooter and her “jaw just dropped,” she told CBS Los Angeles.
According to Colell, she recognized Long’s name as her one-time attacker. The event allegedly took place during a track practice 10 years ago when Colell was trying to determine who a found cell phone belonged to.
“Ian came up and started screaming at me that was his phone,” Colell told CBS. “He just started grabbing me. He groped my stomach. He groped my butt. I pushed him off me and said after that — ‘you’re off the team.’”
Colell said she later reported the alleged incident to another coach and to a school administrator, whom she said told her that she was “just too young and good looking to be taken seriously.” Colell said she was pressured to accept Long’s apology and let him back on the team so as to not jeopardize Long’s future in the Marines.
Colell further noted that while some have contended that Long’s act of violence could be a result of PTSD after serving in Afghanistan, she believes that he had anger issues and emotional problems long prior.