My son actually goes to UCSB but I knew he was on an airplane heading across the country when this happened thank God. Still, its been interesting to get the somewhat inside scoop from his friends. None of them knew him so I dont mean I have any real details about him or anything. Had he gone through with his original April 25th date, before he caught a virus, then my son would have been in danger as he walks that path almost everyday sometimes while talking to me on the phone. Scary! I did get a link to that manifesto right away though and yes, hours of reading....
I think everyone here that read it has a great opinion on it. I agree with everyone. Interesting how fixated he was with the blonde hair fetish. Maybe thats a California signature thing and being that he was Eurasian he coveted that. He even had his hair bleached twice while he was a little kid...I think still in elementary school, which I think is kind of bizarre.
And I think he actually threw coffee on several people including at starbucks one time..and then the super soaker full of orange juice. He did try and throw girls off the balcony and got tossed off himself and beaten up. He broke his ankle in the fall and had to go to his mothers house to heal and that also postponed his plans for this rampage behind schedule. I think he ended up resenting his mother mostly because she would not marry the rich men she dated and he so wanted and felt entitled to living as a wealthy kid and he always felt ashamed and poor compared to his peers.
Also, a scary part was how he was planning to kill his little half brother because he didnt want that kid growing up having the life he always wanted socially, sexually, and materially. He thought he would show up his own legacy or something like that even though he admitted the kid was the only person on earth that actually looked up to him and respected him. He thought the kid would grow up to be the same kind of person he hated. He also wanted to kill his step mother but I saw her on the french version of the real housewives show and anyone would want to kill her! bleh! He gets a pass on that one.
I noticed that the press is seeking out the people he mentioned and interviewing some of them. The black guy named lucky (same name as his dog) said that he was really quiet and never spoke unless spoken to and then in one word answers. Some other guy from his past said the same thing and that he would just sit and mope and everyone thought he was a buzz kill. That girl whose brother became an actor and who was so mean to him and he had a crush on, the one who he blames the hatred of women started with... says she doesnt even remember him. I bet she does but I had a look at her face book page the first day and thought what a messed up girl she is. Her pictures and language shows a pathetic plastic lost girl. Pretty much everything this guy talks about. All I can say is he didnt miss anything by rejection from that one. Sorry, I dont usually say bad things about other women but he was spot on with this girl. She is most likely a bully. Mind you, I do not excuse his actions at all or his problems.
And, yeah, I want more details about his roommates. Maybe he did drug them. Hard to believe they would be asleep or drunk at 9 pm but that's assuming he didn't kill them the night before. He only mentions two so I don't know why the third one was there. I've read reports that he was also living there but he wasn't on the lease and the manifesto does not mention him living there. There was an incident with one of them stealing Elliott's candles. The police got involved and the guy pleaded guilty so I guess he did do it. The parents of one of them said their son was moving out after spring quarter because Elliot played loud music at night.
One of victims that lived was hit by his car while on his skate board and has two broken legs and looks completely battered. He doesn't even go to school there and was visiting his friend who also got hit and survived but was on a bike. Another male survivor was hit in the arm with a bullet outside the deli. No word on the other sorority girl who was shot but lived. I imagine we will hear more in the next week from the survivors.
Another thing I cant understand about his parents is that they never seemed to clue into the fact that he habitually dropped classes at every school he went to. How could they not know? They were paying for everything as he refused to get a job for longer than 48 hours...he thought everything was beneath him or too much work. He probably could have become a writer but once he learned that writers dont become wealthy until their middle age then he lost ambition as he wanted instant wealth so he took to playing the lottery. It is strange that he put himself into an environment that was just riddled with the very things that triggered his madness further but I guess part of his illness was that he didnt want to get better kind of like the devil you know. Or maybe he thought being around all the party sex and drug fueled atmosphere would help him mix into it? Maybe he just was lost and didn't know what to do or where to go? I think his parents were in a tough spot but I also think they dropped the ball a few times. Seems he was really good at manipulating them..especially his mother and his dad was just mostly absent or focused on the mistress turned stepmonster or his career. His mother was also invested in her career and dating but seemed to be there for him more but they bounced him back and forth which was not healthy. He was clearly special needs from the start and didn't get what he needed which is a full time parent and stability for starters. I cant help but notice the misplaced values or lack of values and lack of spiritual health in both homes. I married into a family like that ...chasing the glamor, wealth, and social scene instead of child rearing as priority. Two of the three kids are now dead from years of emotional struggle and drug abuse. I hope Im not projecting too much but seriously...these are cautionary tales. Will we ever learn?