Shooting rampage at my alma mater, UCSB. 7 dead. Horrifying.

<p>@collegevetting Point taken, sorry. IV = UCSB in my mind. Shoulda been more specific.</p>

<p>In the Newtown case, some people were saying that the mother should have called the police on her son in the years before the shooting. Well, look what happens when you call the police: nothing. The police visit the young man, the young man seems articulate and plausible, and the police leave.</p>

<p>Mass killers usually don’t wear a tattoo on their forehead saying “I am going to be a mass murderer.”</p>

<p>Meh. I’m pissed and am taking it out on you. They seem to have taken the youtube down for having ‘violated youtube standards’… you think? On the other hand, I wanted to see it. I was in a sorority there and am curious if he mentioned one in particular. Clearly they had excellent taste.</p>

<p>Get rid of guns! How many more mass shootings before we get the point??</p>

<p>You can still see it (reposted from other YouTube users). Just search for “Elliot Rodger Retribution.” I will warn you that it is disturbing and hard to watch. As I said before, I am not an expert but I didn’t see a mentally deranged person–I just saw a smug little twit who just couldn’t accept the fact that no girl had ever liked him and subsequently blamed all women everywhere for it.</p>

<p>or get rid of cars, since he ran over a bicyclist. The gun didn’t fire itself.</p>

<p>Get rid of cars AND guns! </p>

<p>Sally, you can’t see a mentally deranged person. There’s also a 100-page life story that he posted somewhere and another news conference expected later today.</p>

<p>The UCSB connection is being made everywhere because those are the students affected. Some are victims. This happened in their backyard, basically. </p>

<p>Ugh. I am not sure I want to know about it.</p>

<p>I also wish people would stop making the comparison between cars and guns. The main purpose of cars is not to inflict harm on others. The main purpose of guns IS. There’s a reason guns are the weapon of choice for many criminals/mentally ill people.</p>

<p>A kid from our community was killed in a car accident earlier this month. He was about to graduate from college. The car he was in drove off the road and into a ravine. The driver, his girlfriend, was not trying to kill him. There’s a big difference. </p>

<p>Three of the dead were either his roommates or lived in his apartment building. Obviously his parents were afraid he would do something like this. They know him better than the police. Yes, it’s hard to predict and hard to prevent but it seems that those closest to the shooters have the responsibility to do everything they can to keep the shooter from harming others. </p>

<p>Oddly, or interestingly, in 2001 there was another mass killing in IV. Another director’s son using an expensive car to mow down pedestrians on purpose. IIRC, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the crime of murder.</p>

<p>A gun is a much more effective weapon of mass murder than a car. Time after time, mass killings are done most effectively by individuals with guns–not by individuals with cars or knives or poisons, but with guns.</p>

<p>@sally305 thanks. I may try that.</p>

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<p>What would you have had the parents do?</p>

<p>I’m sick about this. This slaughter of our young by our young is becoming far to frequent. I don’t know the answer. I fear there isn’t one. </p>

<p>@TatinG I read that, too. I wonder if that could have played a role in the scenario that this killer created yesterday. </p>

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<p>I don’t know…the same thing people do when they have a relative who drinks or uses drugs and potentially endangering others? Keep an incredibly close eye on him, warn his friends/roommates to be on the lookout for changes in his behavior, try to ascertain whether he has the means to hurt people?</p>

<p>Mother Jones keeps a running tally of mass shooting incidents. Apparently in 75% of the cases, the weapons were acquired legally. Seems to me that that is where we have to start. </p>

<p>This shooter was rich, smart, crazy, and manipulative. A very bad combination. Chances are pretty good he could have gotten his hands on whatever he wanted legal or not. Police are calling him “severely disturbed”.</p>

<p>A collection of his recent videos, not including the final one:
<a href=“https://www.youtube.com/user/ElliotRodger”>https://www.youtube.com/user/ElliotRodger&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I got this via the NY Times article on the shootings:
<a href=“Video Rant, Then Deadly Rampage in California Town - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/us/california-drive-by-shooting.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@oldmom4896 Yeah, and time after time people defend themselves with guns too. I personally want to keep that option open, but I understand you disagree. </p>

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<p>In this case, I think they did one thing right: they called the police on their own son when they were concerned about his potential to harm others. The police were not trained properly; they dropped the ball.</p>

<p>I’m guessing the father lives in LA, which is driving distance to SB. I don’t know anything about the mother (the father is remarried).</p>

<p>If the parent(s) were concerned enough to call the police, they should have gone up there, brought him home, cut off support if he didn’t get help, etc. I realize it is hard to make the proper call, but in this case, when the mother was frightened enough to call the police, she should have shown up on his door step. Immediately changing the status quo is probably the best thing to do.</p>