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Isla Vista shootings: What we know about alleged UC Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger
Isla Vista police identified Elliot Rodger as the main suspect in a shooting Friday night in Isla Vista that left 7 people dead.
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Frank Stoltze/ KPCC
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A black BMW from which an alleged shooter killed six near the University of California, Santa Barbara in Isla Vista before the shooter's own death, as seen on Saturday, May 24, 2014.
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Gaudry Puéchavy
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Henley Gate at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Ryosuke Yagi/Flickr Creative Commons
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Elliot Rodger, who allegedly killed six people before he died in Isla Vista near the University of California, Santa Barbara, left a large digital footprint. It includes a video posted Friday detailing his plan to kill women because they did not like him, as well as a 140-page manifesto.
Rodger first enrolled at Santa Barbara City College in summer 2011 and completed just three courses. He had enrolled several times after that, but had stopped attending or had withdrawn from all his courses. He was never cited for any disciplinary problem or any other issue, Joan Galvan, a spokesman for the school, said.
Family described Rodger as a quiet, meek individual with a history of psychological problems and few friends. But, a spokesman for the family told the L.A. Times Sunday, he was not the person they saw in a video posted shortly before the shooting. “The guy on the video was much more confident," family friend and spokesman Simon Astaire said. "That is a guy I never met.”
In the chilling video, Rodger laid out his plan and what he saw as his motivation.
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"Tomorrow is the day of retribution, the day I will have my revenge against humanity," Rodger says in the video. "I've been forced to endure an existence of loneliness, rejection and unfulfilled desires, all because girls have never been attracted to me."
He notes that he's 22 and still a virgin and expresses frustration with women for not being attracted to him.
"On the day of retribution, I am going to enter the hottest sorority house at UCSB and I will slaughter every single spoiled, stuck-up, blond slut I see inside there," Rodger says. "I take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you."
In his manifesto, Rodger details his life and what he sees as his problems, as well as listing people he planned to kill, including sorority girls, his little brother and his stepmother. He says that police visited him after he posted videos saying he was upset about women ignoring him, but that he told them it was a misunderstanding and they left. You can see the full manifesto here.
Rodger's Facebook shows him walking the red carpet for the "Hunger Games" with his parents. He also posted photos of himself posing in his BMW, riding in a limo and attending a private Katy Perry concert.
His father, Peter Rodger, was second unit director on "the Hunger Games." His stepmother, Soumaya Akaaboune, appeared in a French version of "the Real Housewives."
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Elliot Rodger vlogged on a YouTube channel. He said in the description of a video posted earlier this month that he temporarily took down all of his vlogs due to "alarm" they caused with members of his family, but he apparently put those videos back up this week.
Titles of his videos include "Life is so unfair because girls dont [sic] want me," "Being lonely on Spring Break sucks," "My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy," "Why do girls hate me so much?"
Earlier in the week, YouTube's "The Player Supreme Show" analyzed a video of Rodger in a video called "why this guy does not attract women."
why this guy does not attract women
The show describes itself as an dating advice service for men. The show's host said that Rodger was "whiny," a "weirdo," described his mannerisms as "feminine" and said that he "stinks inside." It was apparently in response to a post by someone else on the show's forum. Rodger subscribed to "the Player Supreme Show" YouTube channel.
The show posted another video following the shootings, with the host saying he wished he could have reached out to Rodger and analyzed the video where he said he was going to shoot female students.
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Rodger apparently had a blog with one post from April, talking about his loneliness living in Santa Barbara.
"As I've said many times, a beautiful environment can be the darkest hell if you have to experience it all alone," Rodger wrote, "especially while having to watch other men walking around with their girlfriends. I wish girls were attracted to me. I don't know why they aren't."
In his bio on his blog, Rodger writes, "Currently, I am attending college in Santa Barbara, and while there I am staying the the town of Isla Vista. I have tried very hard to fit in with the social scene there, but I have ultimately been unable to do so. There are too many obnoxious people who have ruined my whole experience at that place."
Rodger's Twitter account has two tweets. One is a link to one of his videos, while the other is the following:
Rodger posted on several online forums, including Bodybuilding.com. His posts have been removed, but the board's admins have noted that the information has been saved and will be shared as necessary with authorities.
A blogger on liberal website the Daily Kos connected Rodger to the "Men's Rights" movement, but Men's Rights activists were quick to distance themselves in posts on the popular Men's Rights Reddit forum.
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Elliot Rodger's manifesto:
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