HUNDREDS gathered at a memorial service on Sunday to mourn six young people killed two nights earlier by a gunman in a California college town.
Elliot Rodger, 22, the son of a Hollywood director, fatally stabbed three people in his apartment before shooting dead three others on Friday in Isla Vista, near the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus. He then shot himself.
Rodger killed two women and four men, aged 19 to 22, and wounded 13 others, including eight who he shot as he sped through town in his BMW, exchanging fire with police, authorities said.
Minutes before opening fire he e-mailed his plans to some 30 people including his mother, father and former teachers, said Cathleen Bloeser, whose son was a friend of Rodger and received a copy.
Rodger stated his intention to kill his housemates, lure others to his home to continue the mayhem then slaughter women in a sorority and bring his spree to the streets of Isla Vista.
The manifesto, which details Rodger’s fear that his guns and plan might have been discovered when police visited him less than a month ago, was not the first indication of a troubled mind. “We could see him turning,” Bloeser said, adding that Rodger talked to her son, Philip, and another friend about sex crimes he wanted to commit against women. “He wanted to get back at people.” Family friend Simon Astaire said Rodger’s mother, Chin, received a call on the night alerting her to the manifesto. She called the cops and exhusband, Peter Rodger, and the two parents raced to Isla Vista, Astaire said. Chin heard of the shootings on the car radio while driving.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that Rodger was seen by healthcare professionals and it was “very apparent he was severely mentally disturbed”. Brown said his department had been in contact with Rodger, including for a welfare check in which deputies found him to be not appearing to meet criteria to be held involuntarily.
Portions of Rodger’s manifesto read: “I had the fear that someone had somehow discovered what I was planning, and reported me for it. If that was the case, the police would have found all of my guns and weapons, along with my writings about plan.
“I’d have been thrown in jail, denied of the chance to exact revenge on my enemies. I can’t imagine a hell darker than that.” He said cops left when he told them it was a misunderstanding. He added he was not mentally ready to kill his father, assistant director on The Hunger Games film. — Reuters
Santa Barbara mourns victims of killing spree
Elliot Rodger, 22, the son of a Hollywood director, fatally stabbed three people in his apartment before shooting dead three others on Friday in Isla Vista, near the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus. He then shot himself.
Rodger killed two women and four men, aged 19 to 22, and wounded 13 others, including eight who he shot as he sped through town in his BMW, exchanging fire with police, authorities said.
Minutes before opening fire he e-mailed his plans to some 30 people including his mother, father and former teachers, said Cathleen Bloeser, whose son was a friend of Rodger and received a copy.
Rodger stated his intention to kill his housemates, lure others to his home to continue the mayhem then slaughter women in a sorority and bring his spree to the streets of Isla Vista.
The manifesto, which details Rodger’s fear that his guns and plan might have been discovered when police visited him less than a month ago, was not the first indication of a troubled mind. “We could see him turning,” Bloeser said, adding that Rodger talked to her son, Philip, and another friend about sex crimes he wanted to commit against women. “He wanted to get back at people.” Family friend Simon Astaire said Rodger’s mother, Chin, received a call on the night alerting her to the manifesto. She called the cops and exhusband, Peter Rodger, and the two parents raced to Isla Vista, Astaire said. Chin heard of the shootings on the car radio while driving.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that Rodger was seen by healthcare professionals and it was “very apparent he was severely mentally disturbed”. Brown said his department had been in contact with Rodger, including for a welfare check in which deputies found him to be not appearing to meet criteria to be held involuntarily.
Portions of Rodger’s manifesto read: “I had the fear that someone had somehow discovered what I was planning, and reported me for it. If that was the case, the police would have found all of my guns and weapons, along with my writings about plan.
“I’d have been thrown in jail, denied of the chance to exact revenge on my enemies. I can’t imagine a hell darker than that.” He said cops left when he told them it was a misunderstanding. He added he was not mentally ready to kill his father, assistant director on The Hunger Games film. — Reuters
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