7 dead, 7 injured in California shooting spree
Posted May 24, 2014 5:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A “premeditated mass murder” is what authorities in California are calling a shooting spree that left seven people dead including the gunman late Friday night near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Officials say the incident led to nine separate crime scenes.
The shooter exchanged gunfire twice with deputies before crashing his BMW into another vehicle.
“At 9:33 p.m., six minutes after the initial call was received, the suspect engaged a group of responding deputies with gunfire. The deputies returned fire and the suspect fled in his vehicle,” Santa Barbara County sheriff Bill Brown said. “Seconds later the suspect was again spotted by another deputy. Another exchange of gunfire occurred at that time.”
Police say they are looking into a YouTube video that may be connected to the attack.
“We’re analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder,” Brown said.
Officials would not say whether the person in the video was a suspect in the shooting.
In the almost seven-minute video, a man sits in his car and describes his frustration over being passed over by girls and the loneliness it has caused him. He also adds that he is still a virgin at the age of 22.
Chuckling often, the man says he will take his revenge against humanity and all the girls who rejected his sexual advances.
YouTube removed the video but it was reposted on LiveLeak and can be viewed below.
The man in the video identifies himself as Elliot Rodger. He’s the son of Hollywood film director Peter Rodger, who was one of the assistant directors of “The Hunger Games” film series. The police have not identified him as the suspect but according to a media report, his family believes it was him.
According to the Associated Press, a lawyer also adds Rodger’s family was concerned and called police several weeks ago because of his YouTube videos “regarding suicide and the killing of people.”
WARNING: Potentially disturbing video of Rodger below.
With files from Toronto Staff
