Elliot Rodger

 Elliot Oliver Robertson Rodger (July 24, 1991 – May 23, 2014) was an English-American former college student and the sole perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings. On May 23, 2014, Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others by using knives, semi-automatic pistols and his car in Isla Vista, California, near the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Rodger first killed his two roommates and their friend in the apartment they shared, ambushing and stabbing them one at a time as they arrived. Hours later, he uploaded a YouTube video in which he detailed his intentions of "punish[ing]" women for their lack of interest in him, as well as the men of whom they were attracted".

Shortly before the attack, Rodger e-mailed a 137-page manifesto—where he detailed his major life events, personal struggles and frustrations with having remained a virgin his entire life—to several of his family members, acquaintances, and therapists.

As detailed in his YouTube video, his first course of action was driving to a nearby sorority house, intending to murder its occupants. Unable to enter, Rodger shot at three women walking outside the sorority house, killing two. He then drove by a nearby delicatessen, shooting and killing a man inside. Afterwards, Rodger circulated around Isla Vista, shooting indiscriminately and ramming into pedestrians with his BMW. He exchanged gunfire with sheriff's deputies twice, the latter occurrence resulted in Rodger getting shot in his hip. Shortly after, he crashed his vehicle into a parked car. As police looked around the vehicle, they found Rodger dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Early life
Elliot Rodger was born in London on July 24, 1991, to parents Peter Rodger and Ong Li Chin. Peter, a British national, is a filmmaker who has directed television commercials and served as a second unit director on The Hunger Games (2012). His mother is of Malaysian Chinese descent and has also worked in the film industry, working as an on-set nurse during the productions of The Princess Bride (1987) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) before Rodger's birth. His paternal grandfather, George Rodger, was a well-known photojournalist known for his images from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Following Rodger's birth, his family moved to Sussex, where he enjoyed an affluent and privileged childhood. He initially attended Dorset House, a private all-boys school in West Sussex. When Rodger was aged 5, his family moved to the upscale Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Here, Rodger attended Pinecrest Schools before switching to Topanga Elementary School.

Rodger's parents divorced when he was aged 7. Custody was split between the parents, with Rodger and his younger sister living with their mother during weekdays and their father during weekends. A year after the divorce, Rodger's father married Soumaya Akaaboune, a Moroccan-born French actress. It was around this time that Rodger began showing difficulty socializing with others. As an elementary student he was quiet and withdrawn, whispered answers if addressed, preferred to write down information rather than talk and avoided peer interaction during recess. Social gatherings like birthday parties made him anxious, and on one occasion at Disneyland, he was overwhelmed to tears by the crowds. Rodger viewed his sister as a rival, throwing tantrums over issues in which his parents took her side over him.

In 1999, Rodger's mother filed an affidavit asking for more child support from his father, labelling her son as a "high-functioning autistic child" with special needs. Rodger's father presented a diagnosis by Dr. Stephen M. Scappa, who stated the autism diagnosis was false because the examiner might have missed conditions like depression or anxiety. Scappa recommended that Rodger undergo additional evaluation by a child psychiatrist to secure a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Meanwhile, Rodger had a difficult relationship with his stepmother Akaaboune, rejecting her parental authority in favor of his biological mother.

As he grew, Rodger became self-conscious about his short height and slender frame, briefly playing basketball in the belief that it would make him grow taller. He also became embarrassed about his mixed race heritage, which he felt set him apart from his entirely white peers. At age 9, in an effort to blend in, Rodger dyed his hair blonde and picked up skateboarding, hoping these changes would help him befriend other children. Despite his extreme social awkwardness, Rodger started to socialize with his more popular peers and attempted to approach girls. He later began experiencing feelings of resentment, convinced that his life was unfair compared to his peers. His increased difficulty establishing friendships, particularly with women, led to a sense of isolation and frustration.

Middle years
Rodger's mother dated filmmaker George Lucas for a short period during the late 1990s, leading to her and Rodger being invited to the red carpet premiere of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). However, Rodger's enjoyment of movies began to wane due to his discomfort with couples present at movie theaters. During this period, his stepmother became pregnant and subsequently gave birth to a son, Rodger's younger half-brother.

As his social activity decreased during middle school, Rodger immersed himself in popular video games such as Halo and World of Warcraft, primarily socializing with others via online chatrooms. When he was aged 11, a fellow chatroom user shared sexually explicit images with him, leading to overwhelming feelings of shock and emotions for the adolescent. Upon reaching puberty, Rodger developed a high sex drive but began to believe he would never have sexual relationships with women. He became known as the "quiet" and "weird kid" who intentionally annoyed classmates, leading to bullying by other students. One of his bullies was a blonde girl, which led him to develop misogynistic attitudes.

After finishing middle school, Rodger enrolled in Crespi Carmelite High School (Crespi), an all-boys Catholic school in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. While he was initially eager to distance himself from female peers, observing the older, taller students at Crespi caused Rodger to have an anxiety attack during his first day of attendance. Rodger reported being severely bullied by seniors at Crespi, which included homophobic abuse due to his refusal to associate with girls. Overwhelmed by the bullying, Rodger withdrew socially, neglected his homework and spent hours playing video games. On the last day of Rodger's freshman year, a classmate bragged about having sexual relations with his girlfriend. Rodger didn't believe him, causing the classmate to play a voice recording of him and his girlfriend being intimate. Rodger's subsequent outburst led to him being picked up in the main office by his mother, the last time he would leave Crespi.

Rodger's parents enrolled him in Taft Charter High School, the transition to which intensified Rodger's fears due to its large student population. Once again he faced severe bullying, often by male students and in the presence of female students. One afternoon, while leaving the premises, Rodger suffered an anxiety attack which caused school staff to contact his mother, leading to him being withdrawn from Taft after only a week of attendance. His parents then enrolled him at Independence Continuation High School, a school of roughly 100 students that offered three to four hours of daily instruction, believing it to be a safer environment for their son.

In 2007, Rodger was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), a condition on the autism spectrum (AS) that leads to challenges in social development. While he didn't meet the criteria to be diagnosed with autism, his PDD-NOS diagnosis helped him receive special education resources. At age 15, Rodger was prescribed Xanax and Prozac, eventually taking Paxil, but stopped taking those medications after a year.

At the age of 17, the mere suggestion of visiting his stepmother's home country of Morocco triggered a temper tantrum from Rodger. He ended up going with his stepmother and half-brother but remained discontent, emailing his biological mother non-stop until she finally allowed him to return to her home. Meanwhile, his father's filmmaking career severely declined during the 2000s, culminating in a documentary film, Oh My God (2009), which bombed at the box office. The film's failure drove Rodger's father into debt and forced him to pause his child support payments.

Becoming concerned with his unwillingness to socialize, Rodger's stepmother made him stop playing his video games, causing tensions between the two to escalate. Eventually these tensions reached a point where in Rodger was kicked out of his father's house. Rodger soon harbored a fixation on becoming rich, believing it to be the key to gaining attention from women. He urged his mother to marry a wealthy man, then took up pursuits such as screenwriting and inventing on the belief that they would be shortcuts to success, only to quickly give up when he felt challenged. Disliking high school and determined to graduate early, Rodger attended classes more regularly and earned top grades, graduating from Independence Continuation High School in 2010.

Later life
By age 18, Rodger had ceased his mental health treatment and refused to take his prescribed medication. He held his parents responsible for his lack of wealth, blaming his mother for not marrying a wealthier man for his benefit and his father for using his money toward Oh My God. Rodger went on to enroll in Los Angeles Pierce College but didn't stay long, choosing to leave when seeing too many happy couples caused feelings of anger.

Despite his mother's encouragement to seek employment, Rodger frequently passed his time wandering around her house or reading at a bookstore, hoping to find friends. He would later sit by himself in cafés, hoping for any woman to approach him. Worried about his direction in life, his parents offered him help with finding employment, but Rodger deemed many jobs suggested to him to be "beneath him." Rodger's father referred him to one of his friends, where Rodger worked in construction for a time. When his half-brother began to show signs of sociability, in spite of his own social disadvantages at that age, Rodger grew envious, but enjoyed his company nonetheless.

Rodger soon enrolled at Moorpark College, attracted by its smaller size and appealing aesthetics. He was hopeful that the change would mark a new beginning, particularly with the prospect of meeting blonde women and showing a potential girlfriend around his new campus. However, Rodger quickly found himself in familiar thoughts of loneliness and unhappiness at Moorpark, developing feelings of envy towards a couple in one of his classes. His discomfort was further fueled by his social anxiety, particularly when he was called upon by a professor. Rodger dropped out of Moorpark after completing a year.

Rodger took comfort in knowing that his best friend, who he had known since childhood, was also a virgin, but couldn't understand why his friend wasn't as angry with women as he was. Seeing his friend as weak, Rodger eventually revealed his thoughts of taking over the world and killing people. Their friendship grew strained over time, and Rodger's friend began to distance himself. Rodger shared his disturbing fantasies with other friends, which led those friends to distance themselves as well.

Santa Barbara
In an attempt to reduce his isolation, Rodger's parents decided to send him to college in Santa Barbara. They agreed to pay for his apartment and college classes, optimistic participating in a college community would encourage him to make friends. Rodger agreed after watching the crime drama film Alpha Dog (2006). Thinking about the film, Rodger believed moving to Santa Barbara would give him the chance to go to parties and finally lose his virginity.

On June 4, 2011, Rodger moved into the Capri Apartments in Isla Vista, near the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. Enrolling at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), he was soon angered when one of his roommate's black friends shared that he had lost his virginity at the age of 13. This deeply upset Rodger, who retreated to his room and called his mother, expressing his frustration over the attention black men received from blonde women instead of him.

Rodger found it hard to get along with several different roommates and chose to spend much of his time alone. When he shared a room with two Hispanic roommates, he would call them racial slurs and insist he was better looking. When his next roommate brought his girlfriend to their apartment, Rodger told him he was "foolish" for being happy to be in a relationship with "an ugly whore". The roommate sent a letter to Capri's management asking to be assigned a new apartment, stating that Rodger had "huge psychological issues" and was a "ticking time bomb waiting to explode."

Rodger soon began developing a deep hatred towards the people of Isla Vista, seeing himself as a sophisticated person deserving of relationships with attractive blonde women; he believed that women were wrong for rejecting him, and blamed men who were more successful than him for their rejection. Rodger started to have thoughts of killing couples, envisioning himself stabbing them to death while they were engaged in sexual activity.

In July 2011, during a visit to Starbucks, Rodger noticed a couple engaging in a kiss; he followed them outside and, in a moment of anger, threw his coffee at them. The man yelled at Rodger, prompting him to flee the scene. That same month, Rodger saw another couple kissing at a food court; he tracked them down in his car and splashed them with iced tea. At SBCC, Rodger dropped a sociology course upon seeing a blonde woman with her boyfriend in class. In January 2012, while driving past a bus stop, Rodger attempted to engage two blonde women by smiling; when they did not return the smile, he turned his car around and splashed his latté on them.

Rodger soon developed an obsession with designer clothing, purchasing numerous items in an attempt to elevate his status. He would roam around Isla Vista every day, often sitting at an outdoor table outside Domino's Pizza, hoping that a woman would find him attractive and initiate a conversation with him. In an attempt to find social connection, Rodger made a friend who introduced him to other acquaintances in hopes of integrating him into their circle.

By February 2012, Rodger's frustration with his social interactions, particularly with women, led him to withdraw from all his classes at SBCC. He began to contemplate what he referred to as the "Day of Retribution," a planned attack on women and couples. Rodger began to amass the funds he believed were necessary for his attack, saving up to $6,000 to buy the supplies he thought he needed. The following month, while walking alone in a park, he saw college students playing kickball. Overwhelmed by envy when seeing blonde women interacting with the men in their group, Rodger went to a Kmart, purchased a Super Soaker, and filled it with orange juice. He returned to the park and sprayed the students while yelling at them.

In August 2012, Rodger's father gave him The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, a self-help book that promoted the "law of attraction." Motivated by its principles, Rodger dedicated the entire month to meditating in his bedroom, imagining himself walking through a park alongside a beautiful woman. The following month, Rodger broke his laptop computer in rage after failing to win a $120 million Mega Millions jackpot. While traveling to Oxnard the next day to purchase a replacement laptop, he visited a shooting range to learn how to use a firearm, believing that his "Day of Retribution" was now very possible.

Still hopeful of becoming rich, Rodger drove to Arizona in November 2012 to buy tickets for the Powerball jackpot, which had been raised to $500 million. Despite driving to Arizona four times, his efforts were met with consistent failure, each loss pushing him deeper into fury. Thinking this meant he would remain a virgin forever, Rodger actively began to prepare for his "Day of Retribution" in earnest, settling on the city of Isla Vista as his target. In December 2012, Rodger bought a Glock 34 semiautomatic pistol for $755.57 at a firearms dealer in Goleta, California. Three months later, he purchased a SIG Sauer P226 handgun for $1,179.48 in Burbank. Rodger's attack was originally scheduled to take place around Halloween of 2013, but he realized the heightened police presence typical of the holiday would thwart his plans.

Rodger and two new roommates were placed in a new apartment complex after taking a questionnaire about their personalities. The roommates suspected that Rodger possessed a firearm after hearing a clicking sound from his room numerous times. They moved out in June 2013, having become uncomfortable living with him.

Incident at house party
On July 20, 2013, Rodger, intent on losing his virginity days before his 22nd birthday, drank vodka to ease his nerves before attending a house party, with the hope of engaging with women. As he entered the house, Rodger saw an Asian man talking with a blonde woman. Furious, Rodger deliberately bumped into the man as he walked by them. Frustrated by his inability to talk with them, he climbed a ten-foot ledge and pretended to shoot people with his finger. When he attempted to shove multiple women off the ledge, a group of men pushed him off instead, resulting in a fractured ankle. Rodger tried to leave the party but realized he had lost his Gucci sunglasses. Still inebriated, he attempted to return to the party but inadvertently walked into another house and was beaten by the occupants. A battered Rodger stumbled back to his apartment.

The following day, Rodger's father took him to the hospital, where two sheriff's deputies questioned him. Rodger claimed he was pushed off the ledge after insulting someone's appearance, asserting that he was then beaten by approximately ten men unprovoked. When asked why he didn't call the cops, he claimed he did not know who to reach out to. A deputy remarked on Rodger's dishonesty, deeming him too "timid" and "shy" to tell the truth. A witness confirmed that Rodger instigated the incident, noting that he acted strangely and didn't talk to anyone at the party. A neighbor observed Rodger returning home in tears, swearing to kill those who attacked him and contemplating suicide. The sheriff's office concluded Rodger was the instigator, and the investigation was closed without further action. Rodger was not arrested nor interrogated further.

Mental health and further planning
In August 2013, fueled by resentment over the house party incident and his repeated rejections by women, Rodger concluded that his only resolve was to enact his "Day of Retribution." However, hindered by his fractured ankle, he postponed his planned attack until spring of 2014. Rodger's parents sought more professional help for him, leading to therapy sessions with controversial psychiatrist Charles Sophy, who began treating Rodger in late 2012. Sophy prescribed Risperidone, an antipsychotic drug, which Rodger decided not to take after researching it online. Subsequently, he stopped going to his appointments with Sophy by the fall of 2013.

Rodger sought assistance from family friend Dale Launer, a filmmaker known for his work on relationship-themed movies, in improving his interactions with women. Launer agreed to help, but Rodger found his guidance ineffective. His mother enlisted the help of an agency that provided three different counselors. Between May 2013 and May 2014, Rodger attended 29 sessions. He connected well with two male counselors but became jealous when they became social and made remarks about women around them. He formed a connection with a female counselor but was offended by the suggestion that he required paid female companionship, comparing it to being with a prostitute.

Rodger's parents also enlisted the help of a life coach named Gavin Linderman. Linderman provided Rodger with instructions to improve his social life, requiring him to travel to Los Angeles for the sessions. During their meetings, Rodger opened up to Linderman about his struggles with his virginity. Linderman suggested that moving away from Isla Vista would be beneficial, but Rodger dismissed the idea. Linderman advised Rodger's mother to consider having her son leave Isla Vista. She then gave Rodger two options: either she would help him find a residential treatment center where he could receive daily therapy, or he could move back home and receive intensive treatment from a therapist and social worker. Rodger responded by asking her to continue paying his rent, promising to focus on his classes and meet with counselors. Due to Rodger being an adult, his mother could not legally force him to leave Isla Vista. After discussing with the therapists, his mother was advised to support her son's wish to stay and complete his education.

Rodger's envy toward his half-brother intensified upon learning he had secured opportunities to appear in television commercials by an agent. Consumed by jealousy, he began plotting the murder of his half-brother, fearing his sibling would surpass him in popularity with girls and social status. Additionally, he devised a plan to kill his stepmother by stabbing her in the neck. Rodger planned to commit the murders while his father was away on a business trip, as he harbored concerns that he might hesitate if confronted with the task of killing him as well. Amidst his intentions, Rodger's mother bought him a used $40,000 2008 BMW 328i Coupé, giving a glimmer of hope within him that he might attract a girlfriend during the rest of 2013.

Behavior with others
In September 2013, Rodger was assigned a random apartment where he gained two new roommates, 20-year-old Weihan "David" Wang and 20-year-old Cheng Yuan "James" Hong. As Wang's mother helped her son move his belongings into the apartment, she urged the three to take care of each other, which Rodger quickly brushed off.

Rodger spent most of his time either out of the apartment or alone in his room, making Wang feel bothered by his antisocial behavior. Wang filed complaints with the building manager, claiming Rodger played loud music during the night. On January 15, 2014, Rodger and Hong got into a fight when Rodger accused Hong of stealing three candles valued at $22, leading to Rodger placing Hong under citizen's arrest. Upon police intervention, Hong claimed he believed Rodger had stolen his possessions, though Rodger denied the allegations. Law enforcement discovered the candles on Hong's bed. After Hong refused to return the candles, he was arrested and charged with petty theft.

Rodger emailed the building manager demanding them to kick Hong and Wang out of the apartment. Hong was angered by Rodger's actions but refrained from confronting him, concerned that it might worsen their living conditions. He and Wang distanced themselves from Rodger and signed a lease for a different apartment for the following semester. Rodger in turn began to plan to murder Hong and Wang, feeling they would get in the way of his attack.

By January 2014, Rodger contemplated launching his planned attack during Valentine's Day or Deltopia, a spring break event drawing crowds to Isla Vista in early April. However, he dismissed these dates due to heightened police presence and his realization that he required additional time for preparation. Eventually, he settled on April 26 as the revised date for his attack. Rodger bought another SIG Sauer P226 handgun for $1,132 in Oxnard in February, in case the other two firearms jammed. Throughout February and March, Rodger visited the gun ranges and made multiple ammunition purchases, using money he had saved from gifts from his grandparents and the $500 monthly allowance his father sent him.

Online activity
Rodger had a social media presence, sharing selfies on his Facebook profile which showcased himself enjoying luxurious plane rides and attending movie premieres. Rodger also frequently shared photos on his Google+, often posing alongside his car. On his personal blog, Rodger portrayed himself as a "sophisticated, polite gentleman," expressing his difficulties in socializing and connecting with others in Isla Vista. He would drive around the city and secretly record couples while complaining how lonely he felt by seeing them. Rodger expressed his grievances about being a virgin his whole life through platforms such as YouTube.

In the weeks leading up to April 26, Rodger uploaded twenty-two videos on YouTube, expressing his loneliness and frustration due to his unsuccessful attempts at attracting a girlfriend. In the videos, he would question why women would prefer "inferior" men over him, questioning why his perceived good looks, high end clothes and expensive car failed to garner any attention or acknowledgment from them, with video titles such as: "Why do girls hate me so much?", "Life is so unfair because girls don't want me", and "My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy."

In additional YouTube videos, he recorded himself taking drives around California while dancing to music from musicians like Whitney Houston, George Michael and Phil Collins. He would post his videos to forums like bodybuilding.com, where despite his attempts to showcase his loneliness, users left comments that ridiculed him, branding him as desperate and insecure. One bodybuilding.com user attributed Rodger's romantic failures were due to sounding creepy and having a demeanor of a serial killer. Additionally, one of Rodger's videos appeared on Reddit's "r/cringe" subreddit, where a user compared Rodger to the fictional serial killer Patrick Bateman from the film American Psycho (2000).

Rodger subscribed to multiple YouTube channels associated with the men's rights movement, which posted content aimed at advising men on attracting and talking with women. He also had a second YouTube channel named "Valtharion". Rodger would leave negative comment across several videos, calling women derogatory terms and accusing other men of lying about their relationships with women. He also boasted about his affluent family background and expressed a sense of superiority due to being half-white. His online activities also included numerous searches related to the Nazis, such as researching Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler, and looking up topics like, "Did Adolf Hitler have a girlfriend," "Adolf Hitler and the law of attraction," "Nazi curbstomp," "Holocaust of black people" and "Nazi anime." Rodger also searched for information on "modern torture devices" and "Spanish Inquisition torture devices."

Rodger frequently engaged with online forums such as ForeverAlone and PUAHate, communities connected to the manosphere. Within these forums, he and other men identified themselves as "incels," a shorthand term for involuntary celibate, where they discussed their struggles to find a romantic or sexual partner, criticized each other and expressed disdain towards women and pick-up artists.

When a user suggested that lucid dreaming having sex could serve as a substitute for their lack of intimacy in real life, Rodger argued that incels needed to initiate a "revolution," citing it was essential to "destroy" the issues they faced by recognizing their "true strength and numbers." He advocated for the overthrow of what he termed the "oppressive feminist system," envisioning a world where women would live in fear of incels. Rodger also expressed racist views towards interracial couples, including mocking an Asian man trying to date a white women and stating it was "rage-inducing" after he saw a black man hanging out with white women. After users accused him of being racist, Rodger expressed that he was shocked that white women would choose "undeserving" men over him.

Final planning
In the days leading up to April 26, Rodger created a 137-page manifesto entitled My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger. In it, he described women as a "plague" and thought that them getting the right to choose their own partners could "hinder the advancement of humanity," asserting that "civilized men of intelligence" should choose who they could mate with. He also stated that women should not be given any rights, adding that their "wickedness" needed to be "contained" to avoid the risk of humanity from "falling into degeneracy." Rodger opined that women's refusal to accept him was a "declaration of war" and hoped for his attacks to reshape humanity. He believed that to "purify the world," it was necessary to get rid of love and sex from human existence altogether. He imagined himself as a leader with "fanatically loyal troops" who imprison women in concentration camps, and the few left alive would be kept in "secret labs" and be "artificially inseminated" with sperm samples to become pregnant, ensuring men would be unaware of women's existence.

Rodger detailed his plan for his "Day of Retribution," and divided it into three phases. The first phase involved killing his two roommates first and luring victims into his apartment, wanting to slowly torture them before killing them. In the second phase, which he dubbed the "War on Women,"  he aimed to target "the very girls who represent everything I hate in the female gender," specifically focusing on the Alpha Phi sorority house, intending to kill as many occupants as possible before setting the building on fire. In his final phase, Rodger planned to drive to his father's house and kill his stepmother and half-brother. He would then steal their Mercedes-Benz and drive it to Isla Vista, shooting and hitting as many people as possible with their car. In April, Rodger extended his preparations by visiting two additional gun ranges.

After Rodger posted multiple videos to his YouTube channel in the week leading up to April 26, he hoped that a woman might see his videos and ask him out on a date. As this did not happen, Rodger planned to finish writing his manifesto and upload one last video minutes before he started his attack. However, Rodger became sick with a cold on April 24, leading him to ponder whether it was a sign to abandon his intentions. Consequently, he postponed the date by a month, settling on May 24, to allow recovery from his cold and more time to live.

Incidents before attacks
On April 30, Rodger's mother became worried after she had failed to contact him for several days. She looked him up online and found the videos he had posted on YouTube. Becoming disturbed by their content, she reached out to Linderman. Linderman in turn contacted a crisis hotline and spoke with a staff member, voicing concerns about Rodger mentioning self-harm, causing the staff member to request a welfare check on Rodger. Responding to the request, four sheriff's deputies, a university police officer and a dispatcher in training visited Rodger's apartment.

When the authorities arrived, Rodger explained that the videos were his way of expressing his social difficulties in Isla Vista and that he had no intention of hurting anyone or himself. A deputy asked Rodger to call his mother to update her on his situation. He did so, told her he was fine, and handed his phone to one of the deputies. The deputy asked his mother if the videos caused her concern about Rodger harming himself or others. After she responded that she was not concerned, the deputies handed Rodger back his phone and he told his mother he would call her later. Because they did not watch the videos or check if Rodger owned any weapons, they determined that he did not pose an immediate risk to himself or others. The deputies determined that Rodger did not meet the criteria for an involuntary hold and provided him with information on local support services.

Rodger was relieved after the authorities left, as a search of his apartment would have uncovered his firearms and manifesto and thus thwarted his attack. He maintained possession of a gun and several loaded magazines close at hand, and intended to use them if the police returned. Rodger removed most of his videos from YouTube, believing the way he acted on them had raised suspicion that could potentially ruin his plans. In the description of one of his videos, he mentioned that he had temporarily removed most of them due to the concern they had caused among family members. Rodger planned to re-post the videos in the days leading up to his attack in May.

The following day, Rodger's mother contacted the counseling office at SBCC to report the incident, but was unable to get ahold of anyone. She felt relieved after hearing from her son again and planned to meet up with him a few weeks later. As the pressure mounted in anticipation of his looming attack, Rodger turned to Xanax to alleviate his escalating anxiety.

Throughout May 2014, Rodger embarked on drives across Santa Barbara, enjoying his final weeks of life. On May 6, he got involved in an altercation with a couple at Goleta Beach. When the boyfriend was attempting to reverse out of a parking spot, Rodger drove his BMW to block him. The girlfriend, observing from her vehicle, witnessed the fight from their respective cars. Rodger told the boyfriend, "You're lucky to be an Asian guy dating a white girl. It's too bad she is such a horsefaced slut." After making the remark, he sped off. The boyfriend told the incident to his girlfriend, which frustrated her. She decided to pursue Rodger in her car. Upon catching up to him and attempting to confront him, Rodger said nothing, leaving the woman feeling uneasy, causing her to leave. As she drove away, she noticed Rodger speeding through the parking lot, almost hitting several cars in the process. The woman called 9-1-1, telling law enforcement about the situation and to search the area for a black BMW.

Apartment stabbings
A week before his attacks, Rodger met his mother and sister for dinner at a sushi restaurant in Montecito. During their meal, he spotted a couple and quietly remarked to his mother that the man was too unattractive to be dating a blonde woman. His mother ignored his remark and shifted the conversation. Once they finished eating, Rodger and his family each went their separate ways. On May 21, after being called a "low-class incel" on PUAHate, Rodger linked a video of himself, his father and stepmother at the Hunger Games premiere, saying: "You’re all jealous of my 10/10 pretty-boy face. This site is full of stupid, disgusting, mentally ill degenerates who take pleasure in putting down others. That is all I have to say on here. Goodbye."

On May 22, Rodger reposted the "Why do girls hate me so much?" video on YouTube. He accessed bodybuilding.com before discovering and viewing anxietyzone.com. Despite initially selecting May 24 as the date for his attack, Rodger unexpectedly initiated his attacks a day earlier, on May 23. He told his mother that his final day of school would be on May 23 and that he would be taking a test at SBCC. He said he would call her after he finished the test.

Before commencing his attacks, Rodger took Xanax and Benzodiazepine. He looked up pornography online and searched the terms "quiet silent kill with a knife" and "how to kill someone with a knife," before practicing stabbing on his bed sheets and pillows.

Carrying a six-inch "SRK" knife along with a nine-inch hunting knife, Rodger first ambushed Wang upon his return to the apartment. Wang tried to defend himself but was stabbed fifteen times, suffering twenty-three slashes. Rodger then moved Wang's body to the corner of a bedroom and threw it on the floor facedown, partially covering it with blankets, towels and clothing. Soon after Hong, still wearing his backpack after finishing class, entered the apartment and was immediately attacked by Rodger. Despite his attempts to defend himself, Hong was overwhelmed, receiving twenty-five stab wounds and twelve slashes. Rodger dragged Hong's body to the same bedroom, throwing it face down halfway on top of Wang's body. He also concealed Hong's body with blankets and clothing.

The final victim, 19-year-old George Chen, was a friend of Hong and Wang's who arrived at the apartment last to visit them. Upon entering, Rodger ambushed Chen, unleashing a total of ninety-four stab wounds and eleven slashes as Chen attempted to defend himself. Rodger left his body in a bathroom in a pool of blood. He attempted to clean the apartment and hide evidence of the earlier stabbings as each victim entered. He tried using bathroom towels and paper towels, but they quickly became soaked in blood. Despite his efforts, blood remained splattered on the hallways and walls.

After failing to clean the blood, Rodger changed out of his blood-drenched clothes and entangled them with his bed sheets. He put on new clothes and went to Starbucks around 7:38 p.m. He purchased a triple-vanilla latte while texting his mother he would call her later. He returned to his apartment and wrote in his diary: "I had to tear some pages out because I feared my intentions would be discovered. I taped them back together as fast as I could. This is it. In one hour I will have my revenge on this cruel world. I HATE YOU ALLLL! DIE." Minutes before his planned attack on Alpha Phi, Rodger uploaded a seven minute video on YouTube called "Elliot Rodger's Retribution". In the video, Rodger is seen sitting in his BMW during a sunset, reciting scripted lines and letting out fake laughs. Rodger explained in the video that he was frustrated that he was still a virgin at 22, that he would "punish" women for rejecting him despite being a "Supreme Gentleman," and expressed his hatred for sexually active men. He then emailed his 137-page manifesto to 34 people, including his parents, therapists, former teachers, and childhood friends.

Shooting and vehicle attack
Rodger arrived at the Alpha Phi sorority house around 9:15 p.m. with the three semi automatic pistols, additional ammunition strapped to his waist, and a full gas can. The sorority house had a heavy wooden double door with an electronic keypad. Rodger tried to open the door, pulling on the handle before typing on the keypad numerous times. He then knocked on the door aggressively for over three minutes. After no one answered, he became frustrated and set the gas can down. Rodger returned to his car and, around 9:27 p.m., noticed three women walking near the Alpha Phi sorority house: 19-year-old Veronika Weiss, 22-year-old Katherine Cooper, and a 20-year-old woman, all members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. As the women were walking back to their Delta Delta Delta sorority house, Rodger slowly approached them in his car, and from an open window, fired multiple shots at them. As Rodger sped away, the 20-year-old woman managed to go on her phone and call her mother, crying repeatedly that she was going to die. People heard screaming and saw the three women bleeding on the grass, prompting them to rush to a sheriff's deputy for help. The deputy quickly arrived and applied pressure to the 20-year-old woman's wounds. One person began administering CPR to Cooper, and another tried to comfort Weiss by holding her head and speaking to her. More bystanders arrived, and the deputy told them to check if the women had a pulse and start chest compressions. Additional sheriff's deputies arrived and started helping, while another bystander used their sweatshirt to apply pressure to one of Cooper’s gunshot wounds. Despite their efforts, Cooper and Weiss succumbed to their injuries. A bystander then took over the aid of the 20-year-old woman while the deputies chased down Rodger. The bystanders told the 20-year-old woman's mother on her phone that her daughter would survive.

After driving away from the sorority house, Rodger executed a three-point turn in a driveway along Pardall Road. Driving past a closed coffee shop on Pardall, he discharged a shot toward it. Continuing his rampage, he proceeded to the IV Deli Mart, where he unleashed a barrage of gunfire at individuals nearby. 20-year-old Christopher Michaels-Martinez was at the deli's entrance and turned around to look at Rodger's car when he was shot in the chest, resulting in injuries to his liver and the right ventricle of his heart. Michaels-Martinez managed to stumble inside the deli but fell to the ground. Rodger continued to fire additional shots into the deli, shattering windows and sending people scrambling for cover. Rodger then drove away and despite CPR attempts from five people, including a 19-year-old woman, Michaels-Martinez died. Rodger struck a man with his vehicle and knocked him into the air. While driving on Trigo Road, Rodger arrived at Pizza My Heart and opened fire on a couple exiting the restaurant. The boyfriend was shot in the left arm, while the girlfriend sustained a gunshot wound to her upper right forearm. The man ran in the opposite direction while the women ran back into the restaurant. Rodger fired numerous shots into the restaurant before speeding away. Driving on the wrong side of the road in Embarcadero del Norte, Rodger shot a female cyclist in the right thigh near a 7-Eleven. He then encountered a woman walking alone. Rodger called out, "Hey, what up?", making the woman acknowledge him as she continued walking. He raised a gun from his car window, leading the woman to initially believe it was an airsoft gun. Rodger then shot at her numerous times, narrowly missing her head, prompting her to run away and scream for help.

Rodger then drove to Del Playa Drive, where he spotted a sheriff's deputy and fired multiple shots. As he sped away, the deputy returned fire, discharging a single round. Continuing his rampage, Rodger struck two men with his car. He then drove to Camino Del Sur, where he shot a man in the right forearm and right buttocks. Rodger proceeded to Sabado Tarde, hitting a male cyclist and two male skateboarders. He encountered two men in a driveway and shot them multiple times. Near Little Acorn Park, Rodger saw four sheriff's deputies and engaged in a shootout with three of them, during which he sustained a gunshot wound to the hip. At around 9:37 p.m., Rodger turned onto several streets, putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger, causing his car to veer and hit another cyclist who tumbled on the vehicle and damaged the car's windshield. Rodger's car eventually crashed into another parked vehicle. As law enforcement officers surrounded the car, they mistakenly handcuffed the injured cyclist, initially suspecting him to be a potential second assailant. Realizing their error, they gave him medical attention, acknowledging him as a victim rather than an accomplice. Upon searching Rodger's vehicle, police discovered his lifeless body. They pulled it out and found a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Rodger's head.

Vehicle search
Inside Rodger's car, authorities found a Glock 34 Long Slide handgun with seven loaded ten-round magazines, two SIG Sauer P226 handguns with 34 loaded ten-round magazines, over 500 additional rounds of live ammunition, and the two knives he used to kill his two roommates and their friend. The entire shooting spree unfolded within eight minutes, during which Rodger discharged approximately 55 9mm rounds. During the shootings, Rodger used only one of the three pistols, one of the Sig Sauer P226, which was discovered on the driver's seat of his car.

Victims killed
Rodger's rampage resulted in the deaths of six people, all University of California, Santa Barbara students, with 14 others sustaining injuries, seven by gunfire and seven who were hit by Rodger's BMW.
 * 20-year-old Weihan "David" Wang (stabbed to death)
 * 20-year-old Cheng Yuan "James" Hong (stabbed to death)
 * 19-year-old George Chen (stabbed to death)
 * 19-year-old Veronika Elizabeth Weiss (shot to death)
 * 22-year-old Katherine "Katie" Breanne Cooper (shot to death)
 * 20-year-old Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez (shot to death)

Aftermath
Upon receiving the email, Linderman told Rodger's mother to examine what her son had sent. Rodger's mother quickly accessed the email, uncovering his manifesto. She also found her son's "Retribution" video online, prompting her to immediately call Rodger's father who was at dinner with friends, and notify him about what she found. Rodger's mother set off by herself, while his father and Akaaboune traveled in another car, both parties rushing towards Isla Vista while calling the authorities. As they approached Isla Vista separately, a sheriff's detective called Li Chin and asked her numerous questions, including whether her son had ever owned any guns. Li Chin was shocked by the inquiry, as her son had never shown any interest in guns. She explained that he had social problems, saw a therapist, and that she had been unable to reach him that day. The detective instructed her to meet him at a Home Depot parking lot near Isla Vista. Li Chin arrived with Peter and Akaaboune, and they waited until 1 a.m. When a sheriff finally arrived, Li Chin demanded to know her son's whereabouts. The sheriff informed them that their son had been found dead, and his identity was confirmed by his driver's license. Devastated by the news of their son's death, his parents initially believed he was a victim. They remained unaware that he was the perpetrator until hours later when they saw reports on the internet.

Apartment search
Law enforcement also obtained a search warrant and conducted a protective sweep of Rodger's apartment. After removing a window screen, authorities looked inside and found Chen's body lying in a fetal position on the bathroom floor. They breached the apartment and also found the bodies of Hong and Wang in their bedroom. When authorities examined Rodger's iPhone 4, they discovered more than 492 images and videos, including over 200 selfies. When they searched his room, they discovered it to be a mess, finding pharmacy documents for prescriptions, two gun cleaning kits, empty ammo boxes and magazines, Monster Energy drinks, lottery tickets, a copy of The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene, various video games, and a Starbucks coffee cup. Additionally, police discovered a folding knife, a "zombie killer" knife with a 10-inch blade, an 18-inch blade machete, a sledgehammer, and multiple other knives. Police also found a hand-drawn picture of something getting stabbed and a printed copy of Rodger's 137-page manifesto. His laptop was found open to YouTube, displaying that his "Retribution" video had just finished uploading. Authorities and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed search warrants at the homes of Rodger's parents. They first visited his father's home in Woodland Hills, followed by a search at his mother's house in West Hills.

Legacy
Due to his attacks, Rodger's family faced numerous death threats and were forced to move every two days. In June 2014, Rodger's body was cremated and released from the coroner's office to his family. They held a private ceremony and had planned to hold a funeral in England later that year. Rodger and his murder spree brought the incel community to mainstream attention, with it having been praised by young men around the world who identify as incels. Incels referred to him as a "saint" and saw him as a hero, celebrating "Saint Elliot Day" every anniversary of his attacks. Rodger's mass killings would go on to inspire copycats,    with Rodger being mentioned as an influence for men responsible for or suspected in other mass killings. For example, on April 23, 2018, 25-year-old Alek Minassian killed 10 people and injured 15 others in Toronto, Canada, by driving a van through the city. Before his attack, Minassian posted on his Facebook profile:

"Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"