Actress Tamera Mowry-Housley was active on social media on Thursday looking for help locating her and husband's niece Alaina Housley who was presumably at the California bar where a gunman killed 12 before taking his own life.
Late Thursday morning, the couple confirmed to NBC News that Alaina Housley was among the 12 killed.
"Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks," the couple said in a joint statement to NBC. "Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time."
Mowry-Housley's social media thread hours after the late-night shooting shows the frantic nature of trying to gather information of loved ones after mass shootings. The shooting took place before midnight late Wednesday night, and Mowry-Housley's Instagram post came more than nine hours later.
Mowry-Housley's sister Tia Mowry was also active on social media trying to gather information.
"Alaina Housely we are praying," Tia Mowry wrote in Instagram Thursday morning. "We love u! If you know anything or any information please let us know. We love you! #borderline"
Earlier on Thursday morning, Alaina Housley's roommate had posted a plea on Twitter trying to find information on her roommate. Mowry-Housley responded to her niece's roommate and went to Twitter looking for any information she could gather on her niece.
Mowry-Housley's husband Adam Housley then went to a California hospital in search of their niece. The Los Angeles Timesreported that he was turned away by guards at the hospital.
“My gut is saying she’s inside the bar, dead. I’m hoping I’m wrong,” he told the LA Times. He added that his niece's Apple Watch and iPhone locators were tracked to the bar's dance floor.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Alaina Housley was 18 years old and a freshman at Pepperdine University.
Pepperdine confirmed that 16 of its students were at the bar at the time of the shooting, and there was one unaccounted for as of late Wednesday morning.
