2014 Isla Vista killings | |
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Location |
Isla Vista, California United States |
Coordinates | 34°24′43″N 119°51′32″W / 34.412°N 119.859°WCoordinates: 34°24′43″N 119°51′32″W / 34.412°N 119.859°W |
Date | May 23, 2014 ~9:27 p.m. (UTC−8:00) |
Target | UCSB students |
Attack type
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Spree killing, murder–suicide, drive-by shooting, stabbing, vehicle-ramming attack |
Weapons | Two knives Glock 34 handgun Two SIG Sauer P226 handguns BMW 328i Coupé |
Deaths | 7 (3 by stabbing, 4 by gunfire including the perpetrator) |
Non-fatal injuries
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14 (7 by gunfire, 7 struck by motor vehicle) |
Victims | List of Victims in the 2014 Isla Vista Killings |
Perpetrator | Elliot Rodger |
Motive | Revenge for perceived sexual and social rejection |
Elliot Rodger | |
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Born |
Elliot Oliver Robertson Rodger July 24, 1991 London, England, U.K. |
Died | May 23, 2014 Isla Vista, California, U.S. |
(aged 22)
Cause of death | Self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head |
Residence | Isla Vista, California, U.S. |
Nationality | British-American |
Parent(s) | Li Chin Rodger (mother) Peter Rodger (father) |
Relatives | Soumaya Akaaboune (stepmother) |
Killings | |
Killed | 6 |
Injured | 14 |
Weapons |
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On May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, before killing himself inside his vehicle.
The attack began when Rodger stabbed three men to death in his apartment. Afterwards, he drove to a sorority house and shot three female students outside, killing two. He drove to a nearby deli and shot to death a male student who was inside. He began to speed through Isla Vista, shooting and wounding several pedestrians and striking several others with his car. Rodger exchanged gunfire with police twice during the attack, receiving a non-fatal gunshot to the hip. The rampage ended when his car crashed into a parked vehicle and came to a stop. Police found him dead in the car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Before driving to the sorority house, Rodger uploaded to YouTube a video titled "Elliot Rodger's Retribution", in which he outlined details of his upcoming attack and his motives. He explained that he wanted to punish women for rejecting him and that he envied sexually active men so he wanted to punish them for their sexual activity.
After uploading the video, Rodger e-mailed a lengthy autobiographical manuscript to some of his acquaintances, his therapist and several family members. The document, titled "My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger", was made available on the Internet and became widely known as his manifesto. In it, he described his childhood, family conflicts, frustration over not being able to find a girlfriend, his hatred of women, his contempt for racial minorities and interracial couples, and his plans for what he described as "retribution".
In September 2012, Rodger visited a shooting range to train himself in firing handguns. In November 2012, he purchased his first handgun, a Glock 34 pistol, in Goleta, after doing research on handguns. As documented in his manifesto, he assessed the Glock 34 as "an efficient and highly accurate weapon."
In early 2013, Rodger bought two additional handguns, both SIG Sauer P226 pistols, writing that they were "of a much higher quality than the Glock" and "a lot more efficient". He purchased the weapons in Oxnard and Burbank.