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Rampage mirrors threats made on YouTube video
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20140524/college-community-shooting-e578ccbe44.html
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, MARTHA MENDOZA and JULIE WATSON
GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — The gunman fired for 10 minutes from his BMW as he made his way down streets filled with university students walking, biking and skateboarding in the beach community near Santa Barbara, picking off people one by one in a deadly rampage that chillingly mirrored threats made on a YouTube video posted that same night. Seven people were killed in all, including the gunman.
A Hollywood director believes his son was the lone gunman found dead behind the wheel of the BMW that crashed into a parked car, ending the shootings Friday night in the beach neighborhood of Isla Vista near the University of California, Santa Barbara, the family's lawyer said Saturday. Seven others remained hospitalized with serious injuries.
Authorities were not naming the shooter yet but said they had identified him. Investigators were analyzing a YouTube video in which a young man sits in a car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity.
"It's obviously the work of a madman," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Alan Shifman — a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on "The Hunger Games" — issued a statement on behalf of the family saying they believe Rodger's son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter.
"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.
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. There had to have been at least like two guns. There were a lot of shots," he said.
The gunman got into two gun battles before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered.
Describing the shootings as "premeditated mass murder," Brown said a YouTube video posted Friday that shows a young man describing plans to shoot women appears to be connected to the attack.
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. The identity of the person in the video could not be independently confirmed.
Shifman, the attorney for the Rodger family, said the family called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people" that Rodger's son, Elliot Rodger, had been posting.
Police interviewed Elliot Rodger and found him to be a "perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human," he added. Police did not find a history of guns, but did say Rodger "didn't have a lot of friends," had trouble making friends and didn't have any girlfriends.
Isla Vista, which is centered on university life with outdoor cafes, bike shops, burger joints, sororities and fraternities blocks from the beach, was shrouded in fog and unusually quiet Saturday.
Police tape crisscrossed Isla Vista streets, while blood was still visible on the asphalt Saturday. Bullet holes could be seen in the window of the IV Deli Mark and a parked car. The wrecked BMW driven by the shooter remained on the street, its windshield smashed in and its driver's door wide open.
Tyler Martin, a UCSB freshman from Danville, California, was visiting his injured friend at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where the seven victims were being treated.
He said two friends were riding longboards near his home about 9:30 p.m. when a car suddenly came up from behind and ran over one and clipped the other. Martin ran outside to help and tended to his most injured friend.
"As I was leaning over and trying to comfort him — he was in a lot of pain, obviously — I heard pop, pop, pop," Martin said.
The friend who was run over suffered leg injuries and was in surgery Saturday. The other friend was not seriously hurt.
In a statement, the university said several students were shot and taken to the hospital and it was "shocked and saddened" by the tragedy.
"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.
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown offered his condolences to the victims' families, saying he was saddened to learn "of this senseless tragedy."
The family is not ready to speak publicly yet, but wants to cooperate fully with police, public agencies and "any other person who feels that they need to help prevent these situations from ever occurring again," 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."
Shifman said the family is "staunchly against guns" and supports gun-control laws. "They are extremely, extremely upset that anybody was hurt under these circumstances," he said.
Isla Vista has a reputation for excessive partying. Last month, an annual spring bash spiraled into violence as young people clashed with police and tossed rocks and bottles. A university police officer and four deputies were injured and 130 people were arrested.
The community has experienced other tragedies in the past.
In 2001, the son of "Ally McBeal" TV director Daniel Attias ran down four pedestrians with his car on a crowded Isla Vista street. Witnesses testified that part-time college student David Attias got of the car and shouted: "I am the angel of death."
David Attias was ruled insane after he was convicted of second-degree murder and is locked up in a state mental hospital.
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, MARTHA MENDOZA and JULIE WATSON
GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — The gunman fired for 10 minutes from his BMW as he made his way down streets filled with university students walking, biking and skateboarding in the beach community near Santa Barbara, picking off people one by one in a deadly rampage that chillingly mirrored threats made on a YouTube video posted that same night. Seven people were killed in all, including the gunman.
A Hollywood director believes his son was the lone gunman found dead behind the wheel of the BMW that crashed into a parked car, ending the shootings Friday night in the beach neighborhood of Isla Vista near the University of California, Santa Barbara, the family's lawyer said Saturday. Seven others remained hospitalized with serious injuries.
Authorities were not naming the shooter yet but said they had identified him. Investigators were analyzing a YouTube video in which a young man sits in a car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity.
"It's obviously the work of a madman," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Alan Shifman — a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on "The Hunger Games" — issued a statement on behalf of the family saying they believe Rodger's son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter.
"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.
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. There had to have been at least like two guns. There were a lot of shots," he said.
The gunman got into two gun battles before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered.
Describing the shootings as "premeditated mass murder," Brown said a YouTube video posted Friday that shows a young man describing plans to shoot women appears to be connected to the attack.
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. The identity of the person in the video could not be independently confirmed.
Shifman, the attorney for the Rodger family, said the family called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people" that Rodger's son, Elliot Rodger, had been posting.
Police interviewed Elliot Rodger and found him to be a "perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human," he added. Police did not find a history of guns, but did say Rodger "didn't have a lot of friends," had trouble making friends and didn't have any girlfriends.
Isla Vista, which is centered on university life with outdoor cafes, bike shops, burger joints, sororities and fraternities blocks from the beach, was shrouded in fog and unusually quiet Saturday.
Police tape crisscrossed Isla Vista streets, while blood was still visible on the asphalt Saturday. Bullet holes could be seen in the window of the IV Deli Mark and a parked car. The wrecked BMW driven by the shooter remained on the street, its windshield smashed in and its driver's door wide open.
Tyler Martin, a UCSB freshman from Danville, California, was visiting his injured friend at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where the seven victims were being treated.
He said two friends were riding longboards near his home about 9:30 p.m. when a car suddenly came up from behind and ran over one and clipped the other. Martin ran outside to help and tended to his most injured friend.
"As I was leaning over and trying to comfort him — he was in a lot of pain, obviously — I heard pop, pop, pop," Martin said.
The friend who was run over suffered leg injuries and was in surgery Saturday. The other friend was not seriously hurt.
In a statement, the university said several students were shot and taken to the hospital and it was "shocked and saddened" by the tragedy.
"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.
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown offered his condolences to the victims' families, saying he was saddened to learn "of this senseless tragedy."
The family is not ready to speak publicly yet, but wants to cooperate fully with police, public agencies and "any other person who feels that they need to help prevent these situations from ever occurring again," 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."
Shifman said the family is "staunchly against guns" and supports gun-control laws. "They are extremely, extremely upset that anybody was hurt under these circumstances," he said.
Isla Vista has a reputation for excessive partying. Last month, an annual spring bash spiraled into violence as young people clashed with police and tossed rocks and bottles. A university police officer and four deputies were injured and 130 people were arrested.
The community has experienced other tragedies in the past.
In 2001, the son of "Ally McBeal" TV director Daniel Attias ran down four pedestrians with his car on a crowded Isla Vista street. Witnesses testified that part-time college student David Attias got of the car and shouted: "I am the angel of death."
David Attias was ruled insane after he was convicted of second-degree murder and is locked up in a state mental hospital.
You make some good points. What I see as a problem is that their are two discussions going on simultaniously. Guns and the rights of guns, and mental illness and lack of quality or available care.
First of all, imo, the second ammendment does not mean we have no responsiblity to act responsible in our legislation or rules to access.
So as an argument, the conversation focusus on mental health and all the inadequacies therein.
So in the end you got defensive people saying its mental health and you got defensive people saying its mental health. I see both contributing to the overall problem.
First of all, we have hippa laws in place to protect patient confidentiality. I cannot even find out what is going on with my husbands healthcare unless he gives permission to do so. So how does that factor into all this, which is just one thing no one is talking about?
Secondly, liberals have been accused of wanting to take the guns away, which is a political football that has been tossed about so much that there are people who actually believe it. I dont want to take your guns, but rather enforce responsible laws regarding them that are good for the society as a whole rather than a few.
So whenever a tragedy happens, it turns either to gun rights conversation or mental health situation.
There is a longstanding stigma to acquiring mental health care and as long as we have things like hippa laws, even acquiring a background check will not disclose what information is needed to deny a gun purchase. This guy passed a 10 day hold for a background check. He was able to purchase 3 guns in the year leading up to this incident. So the way I see it, is all the laws in place for either guns or mental health, they just constantly enforce that people who should not have a gun will continue to be able to get them legally, and those requiring mental care will continue to avoid it due to the stigma of being treated.
It is truly a connundrum
First of all, imo, the second ammendment does not mean we have no responsiblity to act responsible in our legislation or rules to access.
So as an argument, the conversation focusus on mental health and all the inadequacies therein.
So in the end you got defensive people saying its mental health and you got defensive people saying its mental health. I see both contributing to the overall problem.
First of all, we have hippa laws in place to protect patient confidentiality. I cannot even find out what is going on with my husbands healthcare unless he gives permission to do so. So how does that factor into all this, which is just one thing no one is talking about?
Secondly, liberals have been accused of wanting to take the guns away, which is a political football that has been tossed about so much that there are people who actually believe it. I dont want to take your guns, but rather enforce responsible laws regarding them that are good for the society as a whole rather than a few.
So whenever a tragedy happens, it turns either to gun rights conversation or mental health situation.
There is a longstanding stigma to acquiring mental health care and as long as we have things like hippa laws, even acquiring a background check will not disclose what information is needed to deny a gun purchase. This guy passed a 10 day hold for a background check. He was able to purchase 3 guns in the year leading up to this incident. So the way I see it, is all the laws in place for either guns or mental health, they just constantly enforce that people who should not have a gun will continue to be able to get them legally, and those requiring mental care will continue to avoid it due to the stigma of being treated.
It is truly a connundrum
Once the crime has been committed by that
point it is too late. I would be in favor of
any law that would require preventive intervention.
Right now a law that is being debated
in Congress would require this:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/26/politics/gun-policy-recap/
In general I would say I am opposed to required
mental health treatment but in some situations
I can see why it is necessary, especially
if it would prevent even one further incident
such as this.
point it is too late. I would be in favor of
any law that would require preventive intervention.
Right now a law that is being debated
in Congress would require this:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/26/politics/gun-policy-recap/
In general I would say I am opposed to required
mental health treatment but in some situations
I can see why it is necessary, especially
if it would prevent even one further incident
such as this.
From what I've read, his parent were vary active in trying to get this guy some help.
I found this article interesting.
http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=230
I found this article interesting.
http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=230
Something was definitely missing in this guy's life and it wasn't the fact that women weren't attracted to him.
It's easy to blame the parents but without knowing more about the man~ it's all conjecture.
I do believe there is some blame to be made on our societies values which is not an excuse for this horribly sad situation.
Teko makes some valid points about children being raised without structure, without being told 'no'. They aren't prepared for the real world when it isn't catering to them the way their parents do.
Kids need to learn limits and self discipline. They need to learn that not getting everything they want, isn't the end of the world. I see these types of kids all the time and yes, they don't go around killing masses of people but they do seem to be making a mess of their lives.
It's easy to blame the parents but without knowing more about the man~ it's all conjecture.
I do believe there is some blame to be made on our societies values which is not an excuse for this horribly sad situation.
Teko makes some valid points about children being raised without structure, without being told 'no'. They aren't prepared for the real world when it isn't catering to them the way their parents do.
Kids need to learn limits and self discipline. They need to learn that not getting everything they want, isn't the end of the world. I see these types of kids all the time and yes, they don't go around killing masses of people but they do seem to be making a mess of their lives.
http://www.gunsandammo.com/2012/01/24/waffle-house-customer-shoots-and-kills-armed-robber/
The above is a pretty good article that touches on the aspects of a civilian "taking out a bad guy".
The above is a pretty good article that touches on the aspects of a civilian "taking out a bad guy".
"....where were all the good guys with all those guns? " Well, this is California we are talking about. Not exactly the easiest place on the globe for a well intentioned, law abiding individual to go get a permit to carry legally. And I think this is directly indicative of how many civilians really do carry. No civilian went Rambo here and I think that too is indicative of the quality of the majority of law abiding citizens that do carry. They've trained, they know and understand the laws, and they know that if they do discharge their weapon that you don't get the bullet back.
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