The investigative summary report for the Isla Vista massacre released Thursday reveals that Elliot Rodger was planning his attack for years, but carried out his plans quickly on May 23, 2014.
Rodger shot 10 people, three fatally, and injured seven more with his car as he drove around Isla Vista — he was firing at pedestrians and bicyclists while running over people with his black 2008 BMW.
Emergency dispatchers got the first 9-1-1 call at 9:27 p.m., and the suspect’s vehicle crashed into parked cars at 9:35 p.m., according to the report released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
[Scroll down to read the complete report]
“Within eight short minutes, three additional young victims had lost their lives, 14 people were injured, four sheriff’s deputies were involved in shooting situations, and the suspect had killed himself,” according to the report.
Authorities later discovered that Rodger had killed his two roommates and one of their friends in his Seville Road apartment earlier in the day. Those three victims and the three fatal shooting victims were all students at UC Santa Barbara.
Timeline of Events in Sheriff’s Investigative Summary Report
In June 2011, Rodger moved into Isla Vista, 85 miles north of where his divorced parents live in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.
He had struggled with social interactions and independence, and the move was seen as a “fresh start,” according to the Sheriff’s Department report.
Rodger infrequently registered for a few classes at Santa Barbara City College but had not completed any courses since 2011, according to SBCC officials, and he had no job during the time he lived in Isla Vista.
He was treated for mental-health issues for many years, throughout his adolescence and until his death, and was seeing a “life skills coach,” Gavin Linderman, whom he met in Los Angeles for “psychosocial rehabilitation and life skills instruction.”
According to the report: “Despite the move to Isla Vista, the suspect continued to have difficulty interacting with his peers. He wasn’t able to make friends and was unable to approach females.
“This perpetuated his main frustration in not being able to meet a girlfriend. The suspect became increasingly angry over his self-perceived rejection by females.”
Authorities say Rodger’s purchase of a Glock 34 pistol on Dec. 4, 2012, “can be considered his first overt act in furtherance in the planning of the mass murder.”
According to the report, Rodger’s financial records show he was “ramping up” the planning and rehearsing stages prior to committing the crimes on May 23, including thousands of dollars in payments for firearms-related materials and shooting practice sessions.
“The suspect made 10 firearms-related transactions from January 2014 to April 2014,” according to the report. “Six of these transactions were at shooting ranges.”
Rodger wasn’t employed, except briefly as a teenager doing construction for a friend of his father’s, and used a debit card for most of his purchases. His father contributed a monthly allowance of $500 and other family members contributed money as well, according to the report.
April 30, 2014
Rodger’s mother, Chin Rodger, initiated a welfare check through his life coach, based on disturbing videos he posted on YouTube. Authorities determined he didn’t meet criteria for an involuntary hold.
“During this welfare check, the suspect did not show any signs of being, or make any statements indicating, that he was a danger to himself or others,” investigators wrote. “In retrospect, this was one of several examples of the suspect’s ability to present a normal affect when interacting with others.
“He told the deputies that his mother was a ‘worry wart,’ and explained that he had made the videos as a way to express himself because he was lonely and did not have any friends.”
May 23, 2014
Minutes before the first 9-1-1 call came in, Elliot Rodger sent an email with the “manifesto” and “retribution video” to his parents, life coach and others.
Emergency dispatchers got the first 9-1-1 call of reported gunshots at 9:27 p.m.
“His initial rampage was directed at his roommates and one of their friends, and he then attempted to target a sorority. When that attempt failed, he began randomly targeting victims who just happened to be in the area,” authorities said.
The report gives the following timeline for the May 23 murders and attempted murders:
» Rodger’s two roommates and their friend were killed at the Capri Apartments, 6598 Seville Road.
» Weihan Wang, Chen Hong and George Chen all died of multiple stab wounds before Rodger went on his shooting rampage in Isla Vista, but their bodies weren’t discovered until afterward.
» Members at the Alpha Phi sorority at Embarcadero Del Norte and Segovia Road didn’t answer when they heard loud knocking on the front door several times, and later heard gunshots and screaming outside the house, where three women were shot on the sidewalk.
» Veronica Weiss and Katherine Cooper, members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, died from multiple gunshot wounds.
» Bianca DeKock survived multiple gunshot wounds.
» At the Coffee Collaborative, 6560 Pardall Road, a gunshot was reported into the closed, unoccupied building. No injuries or known victims.
» At the Isla Vista Deli Mart, 6549 Pardall Road, Christopher Michaels-Martinez died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
» In the 900 block of Embarcadero Del Norte, Jin Fu survived a collision with Rodger’s vehicle.
» In the 6500 block of Trigo Road, Aaron Zaglin survived a single gunshot wound to his left arm, and Bailey Maples survived a single gunshot wound to the right forearm.
» On El Embarcadero Road at Sabado Tarde Road, Megan Carloto survived a single gunshot wound to the right thigh.
» On El Embarcadero Road, near Del Playa Drive and El Nido Lane, Sierra Swartz was uninjured after being shot at several times by Rodger.
» On Del Playa Drive at El Embarcadero Road, Rodger shoots and misses sheriff’s Deputy Adrien Marquez. Marquez shot one round at Rodger’s vehicle as it drove by.
» In the 6600 block of Del Playa Drive, Patrick Eggert and Nicholas Pasichuke survived a collision with Rodger’s vehicle.
» At Camino Del Sur and Sabado Tarde Road, Christopher Hoang survived gunshot wounds to his right forearm and right buttocks.
» In the 6600 block of Sabado Tarde Road, Victor Garcia, Mitchell Lyubarsky and Elliot Gee survived collisions with Rodger’s vehicle.
» In the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde Road, Matthew Smith and Antoine Cherchian survived multiple gunshot wounds.
» At Little Acorn Park at Sabado Tarde Road and El Embarcadero Road, Rodger shoots at and misses sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Welch, Detective Brian Flick and Deputies Wayne Johnson and Jorden Walker. Welch, Flick and Walker “fired numerous rounds” at Rodger and his car as he sped away.
» In the 6500 block of Del Playa Drive, Keith Cheung survived a collision with Rodger’s vehicle.
» Rodger shot himself and his car crashed into parked cars at 9:35 p.m.
Authorities determined Rodger committed suicide with a single gunshot wound to the head. He was found in the driver’s seat of his car with a pistol on the right side of the driver’s seat.
Deputies found three 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols in the car and 55 9-millimeter cartridge cases between the car and crime scenes around Isla Vista.
They found six empty 10-round magazines in the car and 548 live rounds in his possession.
Rodger used one of his three pistols, a Sig Sauer, during the shootings, and it was found on the driver’s seat of his car. There is no evidence that the other two guns were recently fired, according to the report.
All three weapons were legally purchased on different dates from different stores.
Rodger’s parents both arrived in Isla Vista a few hours after the massacre.
His mother, Chin Rodger, got a call from Gavin Linderman, Rodger’s life coach, who was concerned about the manifesto and the video emailed out earlier that night. She and Peter Rodger, her ex-husband and Rodger’s father, drove up to Isla Vista separately to check on their son, according to the report.
“Both were worried about their son based on the manifesto that had been emailed earlier that evening, but they both found it very difficult to believe that their son either owned weapons or would actually hurt anyone,” the report states.
Authorities first talked to the parents on the phone while they were driving, then met them at 1 a.m.
Sheriff’s detectives “advised them that their son was dead and described some of the circumstances surrounding his death. The parents were obviously distraught, but very cooperative with the detectives.”
May 24, 2014
Authorities got a search warrant and did a protective sweep of Rodger’s apartment at 12:20 a.m. Saturday.
They removed a window screen, looked in and saw a deceased male on the floor of the bathroom, surrounded by a large amount of blood. Once inside, investigators discovered the bodies of Weihan Wang, Cheng Yuan Hong and George Chen.
Isla Vista Investigative Summary Report by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department
— Noozhawk news editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.