Heroic cop mourned

Photo: The Canadian Press

Cody Gifford-Coffman, who was killed in the Borderline Bar & Grill mass shooting, is remembered during a service at Perez Family Chapel in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018.

Sheriff's deputies knew him as a cop's cop, one who would "go to the ends of the earth" to solve a crime. To family and friends, Ron Helus was a devoted husband and father who loved to go fly fishing with his son.

On Thursday, Helus will be hailed as a hero — a man who courageously sacrificed his own life to save others' when he raced into a Southern California bar crackling with gunfire and immediately engaged the shooter in a firefight.

The act would take Helus' life when he was struck by several bullets, but it would also allow others a few precious moments to escape. In all, 13 people died, including the gunman, who killed himself.

"There's no doubt that they saved lives by going in there," former Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean, who retired last Friday, said of the actions of Helus and a California Highway Patrol officer who followed him through the door.

Helus' funeral was scheduled for noon at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, followed by burial at a nearby cemetery. Gov. Jerry Brown was among those expected to attend.

Helus, 54, was a 29-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department who had planned to retire next year.