"California killings: UK-born Elliot Rodger blamed for deaths
Suspect stabbed three people and shot dead three in Isla Vista then killed himself, police say
• Santa Barbara shootings and stabbings – in pictures
• Opinion: further proof that misogyny kills
• Santa Barbara shootings and stabbings – in pictures
• Opinion: further proof that misogyny kills
Police have named the deceased suspect in the killing of six people and the wounding of eight in a southern California college town on Friday night – a case described by a sheriff as “a tragic mass murder incident”.
Elliot Rodger, 22, described as the British-born son of a film director, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the black BMW car from which he had fired as he drove around an Isla Vista campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Police said that three of those killed had been stabbed to death while three were shot.
On Saturday afternoon the father of one of the people shot dead delivered to camera a furious statement in which he blamed “craven, irresponsible politicians and the National Rifle Association”.
Five more people were injured on Friday night. Police said four of them were struck by the suspect’s car.
On Saturday evening Dr Stephen Kaminski of the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital said four injured people had been treated and released and seven had been transferred to a trauma centre. Of those individuals two were in good condition, three in fair condition and two in serious condition.
Santa Barbara County sheriff Bill Brown said three men had been killed in Rodger’s apartment prior to the beginning of the shooting spree. They were stabbed “repeatedly with a sharp object” in “a horrific crime scene”. The identities of the three had not been not released pending identification and notification of kin.
The three shot dead were named as Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19, UCSB students who were shot outside a sorority house, and Christopher Ross Michael-Martinez, 20, another UCSB student who was shot at a delicatessen.
Earlier, disclosing Rodger’s identity, Alan Shifman, an attorney for the Hollywood director Peter Rodger, Elliot Rodger’s father, said: “The Rodger family offers their deepest compassion and sympathy to the families involved in this terrible tragedy. We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain and our hearts go out to everybody involved.”
Peter Rodger was described in reports as having been educated in Maidstone, Kent, in the UK and worked as an assistant director on the blockbuster Hunger Games series.
Elliot Rodger had Asperger's sydrome, reports said.
Brown, the sheriff, detailed criminal activity that he said had taken place at 10 crime scenes. He said three semi-automatic handguns – two Sig Sauer P226s and a Glock 34 Long Slide – had been retrieved from the car, along with more than 400 rounds of ammunition.
Addressing a press conference, Brown said all the guns had been legally purchased from federally licensed dealers and registered to Rodger.
Brown also detailed three previous contacts between Rodger and law enforcement authorities. The first, in July 2013, involved an alleged assault on Rodger in which it was suspected he may have been the aggressor and the case was suspended. The second, in January 2014, saw Rodger make a citizen’s arrest of a roommate he alleged had stolen three candles worth $22.
On 30 April, Brown said, deputies made contact with Rodger to check on his welfare after a request from a family member. Brown said it had been “determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold”.
Rodger’s identity was first confirmed by his family earlier on Saturday after a series of YouTube videos, including one posted on Friday and entitled Elliot Rodger's Retribution, became subject to intense public attention and speculation.
The video showed a young man who said he was a 22-year-old virgin, complaining that women had rejected him.
"I will have my revenge against humanity," he said, vowing to kill students and Isla Vista residents. "I will punish all of you for it."
The account that posted the video contained 20 clips, including the titles “Why do girls hate me so much?”,“Life is so unfair because girls don't want me” and “My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy”.
The videos, which a family lawyer said had been reported to police and investigated, were taken down on Saturday afternoon.
Brown later confirmed that Rodger had also written a “141-page, rambling … combination of an autobiography and a diary” which the sheriff said made it “very clear how disturbed Mr Rodger was”.
Brown added: “The fact that he had been and was continuing to be seen by a number of healthcare professionals makes it very, very apparent that he was very mentally disturbed when he made that document.
“The video tapes were chilling,” Brown said. “The one he posted just prior to the attack was a particularly chilling one, in which he basically looks at the camera and talks about what he is about to do.”
In his statement about the death of his son, Richard Martinez said: “Our family has a message for every parent out there. You don’t think it will happen to your child until it does.
“Chris was a really great kid. Ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken.
“Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA.
“They talk about gun rights. What about Chris’s right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, ‘Stop this madness, we don’t have to live like this.’ Too many have died.
His voice rising, Martinez concluded: “We should say to ourselves: Not one more.”
Elliot Rodger, 22, described as the British-born son of a film director, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the black BMW car from which he had fired as he drove around an Isla Vista campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Police said that three of those killed had been stabbed to death while three were shot.
On Saturday afternoon the father of one of the people shot dead delivered to camera a furious statement in which he blamed “craven, irresponsible politicians and the National Rifle Association”.
Five more people were injured on Friday night. Police said four of them were struck by the suspect’s car.
On Saturday evening Dr Stephen Kaminski of the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital said four injured people had been treated and released and seven had been transferred to a trauma centre. Of those individuals two were in good condition, three in fair condition and two in serious condition.
Santa Barbara County sheriff Bill Brown said three men had been killed in Rodger’s apartment prior to the beginning of the shooting spree. They were stabbed “repeatedly with a sharp object” in “a horrific crime scene”. The identities of the three had not been not released pending identification and notification of kin.
The three shot dead were named as Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19, UCSB students who were shot outside a sorority house, and Christopher Ross Michael-Martinez, 20, another UCSB student who was shot at a delicatessen.
Earlier, disclosing Rodger’s identity, Alan Shifman, an attorney for the Hollywood director Peter Rodger, Elliot Rodger’s father, said: “The Rodger family offers their deepest compassion and sympathy to the families involved in this terrible tragedy. We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain and our hearts go out to everybody involved.”
Peter Rodger was described in reports as having been educated in Maidstone, Kent, in the UK and worked as an assistant director on the blockbuster Hunger Games series.
Elliot Rodger had Asperger's sydrome, reports said.
Brown, the sheriff, detailed criminal activity that he said had taken place at 10 crime scenes. He said three semi-automatic handguns – two Sig Sauer P226s and a Glock 34 Long Slide – had been retrieved from the car, along with more than 400 rounds of ammunition.
Addressing a press conference, Brown said all the guns had been legally purchased from federally licensed dealers and registered to Rodger.
Brown also detailed three previous contacts between Rodger and law enforcement authorities. The first, in July 2013, involved an alleged assault on Rodger in which it was suspected he may have been the aggressor and the case was suspended. The second, in January 2014, saw Rodger make a citizen’s arrest of a roommate he alleged had stolen three candles worth $22.
On 30 April, Brown said, deputies made contact with Rodger to check on his welfare after a request from a family member. Brown said it had been “determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold”.
Rodger’s identity was first confirmed by his family earlier on Saturday after a series of YouTube videos, including one posted on Friday and entitled Elliot Rodger's Retribution, became subject to intense public attention and speculation.
The video showed a young man who said he was a 22-year-old virgin, complaining that women had rejected him.
"I will have my revenge against humanity," he said, vowing to kill students and Isla Vista residents. "I will punish all of you for it."
The account that posted the video contained 20 clips, including the titles “Why do girls hate me so much?”,“Life is so unfair because girls don't want me” and “My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy”.
The videos, which a family lawyer said had been reported to police and investigated, were taken down on Saturday afternoon.
Brown later confirmed that Rodger had also written a “141-page, rambling … combination of an autobiography and a diary” which the sheriff said made it “very clear how disturbed Mr Rodger was”.
Brown added: “The fact that he had been and was continuing to be seen by a number of healthcare professionals makes it very, very apparent that he was very mentally disturbed when he made that document.
“The video tapes were chilling,” Brown said. “The one he posted just prior to the attack was a particularly chilling one, in which he basically looks at the camera and talks about what he is about to do.”
In his statement about the death of his son, Richard Martinez said: “Our family has a message for every parent out there. You don’t think it will happen to your child until it does.
“Chris was a really great kid. Ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken.
“Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA.
“They talk about gun rights. What about Chris’s right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, ‘Stop this madness, we don’t have to live like this.’ Too many have died.
His voice rising, Martinez concluded: “We should say to ourselves: Not one more.”
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"Sheriff: Calif. gunman killed 3 people at home
May. 24, 2014 11:03 PM EDT
—
GOLETA, Calif.
Authorities said the 22-year-old lone gunman, Elliot Rodger — the son of a director who worked on the "The Hunger Games" — carried out his attacks Friday night in the beach community of Isla Vista near the University of California, Santa Barbara. The rampage happened hours after he looked into a video camera and warned in a disturbing Internet video that he would slaughter those with a good life — especially women who shunned him, authorities said.
Deputies wounded him during two separate shootouts as he sped through Isla Vista, leaving a trail of bloodshed that ended with Rodger apparently shooting himself in the head before crashing his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Thirteen people were injured — eight from gunshot wounds, four from being hit by his car and one who suffered a minor injury whose exact cause was not clear yet, Brown said.
Deputies found three semi-automatic handguns with 400 unspent rounds in his black BMW. All were purchased legally.
Authorities had had three contacts with Rodgers in the past year, including one case in which he claimed to be beaten but deputies suspected he was the aggressor. On April 30, officials went to his Isla Vista apartment again to check on him at the request of his family. But deputies reported back that the Santa Barbara community college student was shy, polite and having a difficult social life but did not need to be taken in for mental health reasons, Brown said.
Attorney Alan Shifman said the Rodger family had called police after being alarmed by YouTube videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people" that Elliot Rodger had been posting.
Brown called the tragedy "the work of a madman" and said the videotape posted by Rodger the night of the killings is a "particularly chilling one, in which he looks at the camera and talks about what he is about to do."
In the YouTube video, Rodger sits in a car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity. He describes loneliness and frustration because "girls have never been attracted to me," and says, at age 22, he is still a virgin. The video, which is almost seven minutes long, appears scripted.
"I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you. You will finally see that I am, in truth, the superior one, the true alpha male," he says on the video.
Police described how he spent 10 minutes traveling from one location to another and opened fire on random people after leaving a gruesome scene at his apartment, where three men were stabbed to death.
Earlier Saturday, Shifman issued a statement saying Peter Rodger believed his son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter. It was unclear how the son would have obtained a gun. The family is staunchly against guns, he added.
"The Rodger family offers their deepest compassion and sympathy to the families involved in this terrible tragedy. We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain, and our hearts go out to everybody involved," Shifman said.
Richard Martinez said his son Christopher Ross Michael-Martinez, 20, was killed in the shooting. He blamed politicians and gun-rights proponents. "When will this insanity stop? ... Too many have died. We should say to ourselves 'not one more,'" he said.
The shootings started around 9:30 p.m. in Isla Vista, a roughly half-square-mile community next to UC Santa Barbara's campus and picturesque beachside cliffs.
Alexander Mattera, 23, said his friend Chris Johnson was walking out of an improv comedy show when he was shot in front of a popular pizza place. He stumbled into a nearby house.
"He walked into these random guys' house bleeding," he said.
Mattera was sitting at a bonfire with friends when at least one gunshot whizzed overhead. The friends ran for cover when they heard the barrage of gunfire.
"We heard so many gunshots. It was unbelievable. I thought they were firecrackers," he said.
Isla Vista, which is centered on university life with outdoor cafes, bike shops, burger joints, sororities and fraternities, was shrouded in fog and unusually quiet Saturday.
Police tape crisscrossed Isla Vista streets, while blood was still visible on the asphalt. Bullet holes pierced windows of a parked car and the IV Deli Mart. A small shrine of flowers was growing outside the business, whose floors inside were stained with blood. For much of the day, the wrecked BMW driven by the shooter remained on the street, its windshield smashed in and its driver's door wide open.
UC Santa Barbara senior Kyley Scarlet said she heard the BMW smash to a halt outside a house she was in. Scarlet, who is a former sorority president, said two women from a sorority next door were killed on the lawn, where a pile of flowers grew on Saturday.
Crying students wandered up to the spot, shook their heads and hugged each other.
Scarlet said a third sorority member was wounded there as well.
Scarlet said she was very disturbed by the video describing his anger at sorority girls.
"It's hard thinking my actions, being part of a sorority, led him to do this," she said. "When I saw that video, I was shaking and crying."
In a statement, the university said it was "shocked and saddened" that several students were shot.
"This is almost the kind of event that's impossible to prevent and almost impossible to predict," UC President Janet Napolitano told reporters after giving the commencement speech at Laney College in Oakland, California.
California Gov. Jerry Brown offered his condolences to the victims' families, saying he was saddened to learn "of this senseless tragedy."
The Rodger family is not ready to speak publicly yet, but wants to cooperate fully with police, Shifman said.
"My client's mission in life will be to try to prevent any such tragedies from ever happening again," he said. "This country, this world, needs to address mental illness and the ramifications from not recognizing these illnesses."
___
Dillon and Mendoza reported from Goleta, California, and Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Alicia Chang and Gillian Flaccus contributed from Los Angeles, and Frank Baker from Santa Barbara."
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