What to Know
- Alaina Housley was the youngest of 12 victims killed in the Borderline Bar mass shooting
- Housley was an English major at Pepperdine University, where she was part of the choir
- Housley's parents said they heard from their daughter before she left to go line dancing at the bar
Mourners gathered Wednesday morning for a memorial to honor an 18-year-old Pepperdine University student killed in the Borderline Bar mass shooting.
Alaina Housley, the niece of actress Tamera Mowry-Housley, was killed in the shooting Nov. 7 in Thousand Oaks. Housley's uncle, former Fox News correspondent Adam Housley and the actress were pleading with the public to help find the 18-year-old before they learned of her death.
Housley's funeral was earlier this month in her hometown of Napa. On Wednesday, family, friends and classmates gathered to remember her at Pepperdine University.
Housley's parents said they heard from their daughter before she left to go line dancing at the bar. They both attended the school in Malibu, as did her aunt and uncle.
"She was invited to go line dancing at a place we used to go when we were here," said father Arik Housley. "We would encourage her, and we would do it all again. We would encourage her to go to Pepperdine, to go line dancing and to try new things."
Housley was an English major in her first year at the school. She had only been at the school since August, but had already become part of the campus community by participating in choir and mock trial.
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Like many of the victims, she was carving out a path for her life. Housley was the youngest of 12 victims shot and killed when a gunman opened fire inside the bar during a college night event.
"A man with some sort of mental illness walked into a bar and killed 12 people before taking his own life. Our government should do more background checks before taking them into our military and teaching them to become trained killers, and then trying to ask them to acclimate back into society."
The shooter was a former machine gunner in the Marine Corp who served in Afghanistan.
Mowry-Housley delivered an emotional tribute to her niece when she returned Monday to "The Real."
"When Alaina would walk in a room, she would change the atmosphere," Mowry-Housley said, describing the late teen as "very sweet, loving and kind.
"She was my niece from marriage, but she was my friend and my sister from my heart."
The outpouring of grief in the community northwest of Los Angeles in the days and weeks following the attack has included candlelight vigils and memorial services, including one in honor of a Ventura County Sheriff's sergeant killed while responding to the shooting.
