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| Wang, Hong, and Chen via the Mirror |
His first known victims so far were his three roommates, all of whom were UCSB students, Chinese and between 19-20 years old. They were also all from the Bay area. In his rambling manifesto, emailed to various acquaintances around 8:30pm that night, Rodger mentioned only two of them, though briefly and not by name. He didn't write about how in January he had called 911 to have one of them arrested for allegedly stealing his $22 candles. The third roommate was apparently not listed on the lease and may have been there only temporarily. He was planning to move soon.
Their quick mention in the manifesto was about how Rodger disliked them and didn't regret having to kill them in their sleep so he could spend the day before his Day of Retribution luring people to their apartment and torturing and decapitating them. He intended to collect the heads in a bag and dump them out on the street in front of a crowd later before opening fire. This was his revenge for being a "kissless virgin" at the age of 22. He felt abused by women and angry at men for having an easier time with women or just being more popular than him. The roommates, though, had to die simply because he couldn't use the apartment freely otherwise.
It does not appear Rodger's plan to lure victims to the apartment panned out. There have been no reports of other bodies at the apartment or a bag of heads. It's unclear when those first killings took place.
Rodgers was seen working on his laptop in his parked car by an acquaintance around 8:30pm. He hid his screen. This would have been less than an hour before he posted his final YouTube video and emailed his 140 page manifesto to others.
Rodger's therapist called his mother after receiving the email and she checked his YouTube channel. She called her ex-husband and they headed out to Santa Barbara, calling the police along the way, but it was too late.
She had previously reported concerns about the YouTube channel only a month or two before, which resulted in a visit to the apartment by seven police officers, by Rodger's account, who, had they search his room, would have found his stash of weapons:
My mother had watched the videos and was very disturbed by them. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know the full truth of who called the police on me. The police interrogated me outside for a few minutes, asking me if I had suicidal thoughts. I tactfully told them that it was all a misunderstanding, and they finally left. If they had demanded to search my room... That would have ended everything. For a few horrible seconds I thought it was all over. When they left, the biggest wave of relief swept over me. It was so scary. (Page 134)
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| The Alpha Phi sorority house via CBS |
This part of the plan failed when nobody opened the door for him. He then opened fire on whoever was nearby instead, wounding several people and killing two women.
He drove away but stopped briefly at a deli, fatally shooting a male student there. The deli was not mentioned in the manifesto so it's unclear why he stopped there. What he did write about beforehand was the final phase of his plan: he intended to drive from the sorority house to Del Playa drive, a busy Isla Vista street, where he said pedestrians frequently walked in the middle of the road. He intended to "splatter" as many of them as possible and shoot anyone else before taking a bunch of pills and shooting himself with two guns simultaneously.
He shot at several people while driving and drove into a couple of skateboarders and someone on a bicycle. None of these injuries proved fatal. The police caught up with him and a car chase shootout ensued, where he was shot in the hip. Eventually he crashed into a car and shot himself fatally in the head.
In all, he killed six people and wounded 13 others. Only about 10 minutes had elapsed since he opened fire outside the sorority until he was dead.
Rodger had originally planned his attacks for April, because he was convinced he had to kill his little half-brother and step-mother after a bizarre phone call where he claims she told him that her son was cast in a TV commercial and would be more successful than Rodger and would lose his virginity at an early age. He had chosen a time when his father would be away on business because he didn't think he could bring himself to kill his father. He then planned to steal their SUV as it could cause more damage than his own car. But he had to postpone when he caught a cold and then learned his father had returned home early. He chose May 24th because it was the last day of the semester at Santa Barbara Community College, which Rodger had attended before dropping all of his classes earlier in the semester. He wanted to get SBCC students as well before they left, but he only ended up going after UCSB students.
The manifesto is a rambling mess, recounting bizarre incidents where he sees himself as the victim even though he's raging against, and occasionally attacking, strangers who are minding their own business, as in this case when he flew into a rage because he saw strangers, who didn't interact with him at all, having fun:
On one of the days in July, when I was roaming around Girsh Park, a group of popular college kids arrived to play kickball in the fields. They all looked like typical fraternity jocks, tall and muscular. The kind of guys I’ve hated and envied all my life. With them came a flock of beautiful blonde girls, and they looked like they were having so much fun playing together. One of the girls did a handstand in the grass, and her sexy bare stomach showed as her shirt hung down. All of the girls were scantily clad. Rage boiled inside me as I watched those people who thought they were better than me enjoying their pleasurable little lives together. The rage was so intense that I couldn’t take it. I was insulted too much. I couldn’t leave them without getting some form of revenge, so I drove to the nearby K-mart, bought a super-soaker, filled it up with orange juice that I bought at the same store, and drove back to the park. They were still there, having the time of their lives, and I wanted to ruin it for them. I wanted to ruin their fun just like they ruined mine, as they would never accept me among them. I screamed at them with rage as I sprayed them with my super soaker. When the boys started to yell and chase after me, I quickly got into my car and drove away. I was giddy with ecstatic, hate-fueled excitement. I wished I could spray boiling oil at the foul beasts. They deserved to die horrible, painful deaths just for the crime of enjoying a better life than me. (Page 106)In one case he got drunk at a party and became enraged that other people sat near him but didn't talk to him so he tried to push them off a 10-foot ledge. They pushed him off instead and he broke his ankle. He vowed revenge.
Rodgers had previously attended Pierce College and wrote several passages about various locations in Los Angeles, including Griffith Observatory, which he enjoyed until he saw couples kissing. He mentions several trips to Japanese restaurants, including one on Sunset.
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| Elliot Rodger at a Katy Perry concert |
He posted images on Facebook from a private Katy Perry concert he went to, where he seethed in silent hatred for everyone else there. His Facebook has apparently been taken down.
He mentions having been prescribed Risperidone, a anti-psychotic medication, but he rejected the diagnosis and didn't take them.
