Glen R. Sprowl Jr.

Glen R. Sprowl Jr. died attempting to save an indeterminate number of people from assault, Trabuco Canyon, California, August 23, 2023. Armed with two handguns, a 59-year-old man entered a crowded bar and shot his estranged wife, wounding her, before spraying more shots that struck four more people. Among the patrons seated outside the front of the bar was Sprowl, 53, shop manager. The assailant exited at the front of the bar and continued firing, wounding a sixth person, before moving to an elevated, rear parking lot, where he retrieved a shotgun from his truck and fired at an occupied vehicle there. While Sprowl’s friend remained at their patio table, Sprowl had moved toward the front of the bar, where surveillance video then captured him entering shortly after the assailant exited. Sprowl returned outside and, as he moved around the side of the building to the rear, he encountered multiple people, who witnesses say he tried to rally to pursue the assailant. As Sprowl, who had a pocketknife with him, moved toward the assailant at the base of a ramp to the upper parking lot, the assailant fired a shotgun at Sprowl, who suffered four wounds to his upper body, and fell to the ground. The assailant shot two other people before sheriff’s deputies, arriving about four minutes later, engaged in a shootout and fatally wounded him. In all, the assailant shot nine people, killing three, including Sprowl, who died at the scene.