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2014 Isla Vista killings

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2014 Isla Vista killings
LocationIsla Vista, California, U.S.
DateMay 23, 2014 (2014-05-23) (PDT)
Attack typeSpree shooting, drive-by shooting, shootout, stabbing, car attack
WeaponsGlock 34 pistol
Two SIG Sauer P226 pistols
Knife
BMW 328i CoupéCite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Deaths7 (including the perpetrator)
Injured13 (8 by gunfire, 4 by blunt trauma, 1 unclear)
PerpetratorsElliot Rodger

On May 23, 2014, a spree killing occurred in Isla Vista, California, starting with a stabbing attack at an apartment, which was followed by a series of drive-by shootings and vehicular attacks near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara. Seven people were killed, including the attacker, and thirteen others were wounded. The attacker was identified as 22-year-old Elliot Rodger.

Details

The killing spree started at the attacker's apartment on Seville Road, where three men were later found stabbed to death with a knife. He then started shooting in front of an Alpha Phi sorority house located near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara; there, two members of the sorority Delta Delta Delta were killed and a third wounded while walking on the sidewalk. Prior to this, the attacker approached the Alpha Phi house doorway and knocked on it for a few minutes, but focused on the Delta Delta Delta members instead after no one answered. After shooting the sorority members, the attacker fired at a nearby couple; the man was wounded, while the woman suffered a superficial graze wound.

The attacker then drove two blocks to the Isla Vista Deli Mart on Pardall Road, where he briefly got out of his car and fatally shot a student. While fleeing the scene, he was spotted by four responding foot-patrol officers, but they didn't recognize him as the shooter. He then drove to an area called "The Loop", where continued firing at two pedestrians on the sidewalk, but missed both. The attacker then drove onto Del Playa Drive, where he brandished his gun at a woman, but did not shoot her. As he drove west on Del Playa Drive, he continued firing, hitting several pedestrians, including a woman that was injured in the leg at a 7-Eleven convenience store, and also struck a bicyclist and a skateboarder with his car. Witnesses described seeing a black BMW 328i CoupéCite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). that was speeding, sometimes on the wrong side of the street, and "spraying bullets". The attacker reportedly talked to some of his victims before shooting them. Some witnesses initially believed the attacker was firing an air pistol.

Police responded to 9-1-1 calls received at 9:27 p.m., and sheriff's deputies in the area immediately responded on foot after hearing gunfire. While heading west on Del Playa Drive, the attacker spotted a deputy and exchanged gunfire at 9:33 p.m. before fleeing in his vehicle, hitting a second bicyclist with his car in the process while passing and firing at students at the Isla Vista Church, which was concluding a service of worship at the time. Heading onto an intersection of Camino del Sur and Sabado Tarde, the attacker fired repeatedly at pedestrians, wounding four. He then encountered four more deputies as he drove east on Sabado Tarde and engaged three of them in a second shootout, during which he was wounded in the left hip. The attacker then fled again, slammed into another bicyclist, and then crashed into a parked vehicle. The attacker was found dead in the vehicle with a bullet wound to his head; although it was initially unclear whether the wound was self-inflicted or if he had been shot by police, police later stated that it was believed he had committed suicide. A total of seven people died, including the perpetrator, and thirteen others were wounded.

Aftermath

Police initially investigated nine separate crime scenes, later increasing the number to twelve. A search of the attacker's car recovered three 9mm semiautomatic handguns⁠—a Glock 34 Long Slide and two SIG Sauer P226s⁠—and more than 400 rounds of unspent ammunition, all loaded into 41 ten-round magazines. All three guns were purchased legally in three different cities. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that there was video and written evidence suggesting the crime was premeditated and that preparations took over a year. A typed 137-page manifesto titled "My Twisted World" was received by KEYT-TV and uploaded by journalist Matthew Keys. Officers from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began searches of the separate homes of Rodger's mother and father. It was later revealed that a therapist called Rodger's mother at 9:17 p.m., ten minutes before the shooting spree started, to alert her of an email that was sent with an attachment of his manifesto. In response, his parents attempted to search for him when they heard of the shootings on their radio.

Victims

Three men were stabbed to death at the attacker's apartment. The victims were identified as Cheng Yuan "James" Hong, 20; George Chen, 19; and Weihan Wang, 20. Hong and Chen were confirmed to be the attacker's roommates, while police were investigating whether Wang was also a roommate or was visiting the apartment. All three men were students at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Three people, also UCSB students, were shot and killed by the attacker following the stabbings at his apartment. The victims were identified as Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19, who were killed at the sorority house; and Christopher Michael-Martinez, 20, who was killed at the Isla Vista Deli Mart. All six people who were killed were declared dead at the scenes of their attacks.

Thirteen other people were injured, eight of them from gunshot wounds and four others by blunt trauma sustained after being struck by the attacker's vehicle. The thirteenth injury was undetermined. Eleven of the injured were taken to hospitals; seven were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where two are currently in serious condition and three others in fair condition, while the seventh patient was released on the same day. The remaining four injured were taken to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, where they were all treated and released.

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was tentatively identified as 22-year-old Elliot Rodger by family members, which was later confirmed by police officials. He was born in London, England, and moved to the United States when he was five years old. Rodger was raised in Los Angeles. His mother is Malaysian Chinese Li Chin, and his father is British-American filmmaker Peter Rodger, whose credits include working as a second unit assistant director for The Hunger Games. His stepmother is actress Soumaya Akaaboune. His paternal grandfather was photojournalist George Rodger. He had a younger sister and a younger half-brother. By the ninth grade, Rodger was "increasingly bullied" and he stated that he "cried by myself at school every day". In 2012, Rodger stated that the "one friend I had in the whole world who truly understood" him "blatantly said he didn't want to be friends anymore", without offering him a reason for abandoning the friendship. He was described as "a serial killer in the making" by users of a bodybuilding online forum of which Rodger was a registered member.

According to the Rodger family's attorney, Rodger saw multiple therapists and was a student at Santa Barbara City College, although the school later claimed he was no longer taking classes. The lawyer also claims that Rodger was diagnosed with "highly functional Asperger syndrome" as a child. Prior to attending Santa Barbara City College, Rodger attended Crespi Carmelite High School, an all-male Catholic high school, but left before graduating. During his time at Crespi Carmelite High, he was bullied by other students, who once taped his head to his desk when he fell asleep. He had a YouTube account, a Facebook account, and a blog titled Elliot Rodger's Official Blog, all of which contained posts expressing loneliness and rejection. His manifesto mentioned a number of drugs that he was prescribed to use, although how long he was being treated with them and the identity of the drugs currently remain unknown. His psychiatrist was later named as Dr. Charles Sophy in his manifesto.

In a previous incident, Rodger "wrote that he tried to shove 'girls' at a party over a ledge, but he couldn't do it, and then men rushed to him and pushed him over". He stated that he "felt a snap in my ankle, followed by a stinging pain" and "tried to get away from there as fast as" he could. Realizing that he left his Gucci sunglasses at the social gathering, Rodger returned to retrieve them but the "same people he had tangled with before began mocking him and calling him names, then dragged him into the driveway to beat him up". One of Rodger's neighbors stated that "he saw Rodger come home, crying" and said that Rodger claimed that he was going to kill the men who attacked him, and "kill myself".

On April 30, 2014, a month prior to the killings, his parents reported him to police after being concerned about his behavior and YouTube videos. He would later state in his manifesto that he had already planned the killings and purchased his guns by that time, and that officers who interviewed him would have nearly exposed his plans if they conducted a search of his bedroom. Rodger had contact with the police two other times since 2013. The first incident occurred on July 2013, when he claimed he was beaten by several people, but investigators presumed he was the aggressor.

The second incident occurred on January 15, 2014, when Rodger accused his roommate Cheng Yuan Hong of stealing his candles. Hong was arrested and charged with "petty theft infraction" for stealing Rodger's candles; he pled guilty to the charge. Hong, who went by the name "James", was one of the three men found stabbed to death in Rodger's apartment on May 23, 2014.

Manifesto and online posts

Rodger, who was Eurasian, wrote in his manifesto that being mixed race made him "different from the normal fully white kids". He frequented several online forums, including forums where users shared their anger and frustration at being "virgins". On the bodybuilding.com forum, Rodger would post misogynistic statements. On another forum, Rodger stated that he opposed interracial dating and made several racist posts regarding African American, Hispanic, South Asian, and East Asian peoples, stating that seeing men of these ethnic groups with white women "makes you want to quit life". In one online post, Rodger stated:

Full Asian men are disgustingly ugly and white girls would never go for you. You're just butthurt that you were born as an asian piece of shit, so you lash out by linking these fake pictures. You even admit that you wish you were half white. You'll never be half-white and you'll never fulfill your dream of marrying a white woman. I suggest you jump off a bridge.

Rodger posted a video on YouTube on the day of the attack, titled Elliot Rodger's Retribution, in which he complained of being rejected by women and described details of his upcoming attack, also laying out his motivations and plans. Police said they were investigating the video. In the video, he says:

Tomorrow is the day of retribution, the day in which I will have my revenge.

You girls have never been attracted to me. I don't know why you girls aren't attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it.

In "My Twisted World", he also outlined some of his plans:

On the day before the Day of Retribution, I will start the First Phase of my vengeance: Silently killing as many people as I can around Isla Vista by luring them into my apartment through some form of trickery.

In the manifesto, he also stated that he planned to kill his half-brother and stepmother, but wasn't mentally prepared to kill his father.

Reactions

California Governor Jerry Brown offered condolences to the families of victims and stated that he was "saddened to learn of this senseless tragedy". University of California President Janet Napolitano said in a statement while at Laney College, "This is almost the kind of event that's impossible to prevent and almost impossible to predict." Delta Delta Delta reacted to the news of the deaths of members Katherine Cooper and Veronika Weiss, saying, "Tri Delta is devastated to learn of the tragic event at the University of California, Santa Barbara and so very saddened to learn of the death of two of our members. Our hearts go out to their families and our sisters at Gamma Theta. Tri Delta's staff, volunteers and local alumnae are working with the chapter to provide support as they grieve this loss." The University of California, Santa Barbara, also released a statement regarding the attacks, saying, "Our campus community is shocked and saddened by the events that occurred last night in the nearby community of Isla Vista. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families who are grieving and mourning as a result of this tragedy."

Rodger's family issued a statement expressing their sympathies for the victims, saying, "We offer our 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 everyone involved." The statement was read by the family lawyer.

Students and community members gathered at Anisq'Oyo' Park in Isla Vista on the evening of May 24, 2014, for a candlelight memorial to remember the victims. In addition, the pastor of Isla Vista Church, one of the locations targeted by gunfire during the attacks, made church members "available throughout the weekend for students who would like to receive prayer or need to talk".

The attacks renewed calls for gun control and improvements on the health care system, with Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal saying, "A year and half ago it seemed like we were on the verge of, potentially, legislation that would stop the madness and end the insanity that has killed too many young people, thousands, tens of thousands since Sandy Hook. I hope, I really, sincerely hope that this tragedy, this unimaginable, unspeakable tragedy, will provide impetus to bring back measures that would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who are severely troubled or deranged like this young man was." Blumenthal also commented in regards to the mental health debate, "I am going to urge that we bring back those bills, maybe reconfigure them to center on mental health, which is a point where we can agree that we need more resources to make the country healthier and to make sure that these kinds of horrific, insane, mad occurrences are stopped. And the Congress will be complicit if we fail to act." Richard Martinez, the father of victim Christopher Michael-Martinez, gave a speech in which he placed the blame of the attacks on the National Rifle Association and gun-rights politicians. The perpetrator passed a background check as required by California's universal background check law.

See also

References

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  2. Pengelly, Martin (May 24, 2014). "California killings: Elliot Rodger blamed for stabbing and shooting spree". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
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