Los Angeles

Thousand Oaks Shooting Victim Honored at Old Glory Relay

A victim of the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting was honored Sunday as part of the finale of the Old Glory Relay.

Daniel Manrique, a Marine Corps veteran, would have spent his Veterans day racing alongside his cross-country relay team. But instead, Sunday's relay was completed in his memory.

As the American flag made its way onto the USS Midway Museum, the members of Team Red White and Blue dedicated their relay to Manrique.

"Dan was an exceptionally kind-hearted person and he just had a heart for service," said Kris Lord, the Pacific Regional Program Manager of Team Red, White and Blue.

Manrique was among the dozen killed in the shooting Wednesday night in Thousand Oaks.

He was at Borderline to help plan the final leg of the patriotic cross-country relay at ends at the USS Midway Museum for Sunday's Veterans Day celebration.

"They had just been at a Los Angeles veteran symposium and they went to have a beer and talk and about how they were going to enact some stuff and you know, unfortunately ... ," Manrique's friend J.J. Pinter said.

Team Red, White and Blue is a non-profit with the mission to offer a support system for veterans as they transition into civilian life.

"Sad and ironic that the young man that took Dan's life could've been helped if we had connected with him," Kim Gustovich said. "It's really tragic that we couldn't get to him sooner, I think he could've been helped."

The race was a symbolic one as veterans have carried an American Flag more than 4,000 miles across the country.

The flag was presented to Manrique's family at the completion of the relay.

"Us giving that flag to Dan is a way for us to show how much every single one of us in this organization is mourning," Lord said. "With them and the amount of hands that touch that flag, it symbolizes the magnitude of the loss of Dan."

Coronado native Justin Meek, who was killed in that shooting, was also involved with Team Red, White and Blue. He was a local leader of the Ventura County chapter, championing for veterans such as his father.

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