# Shooting and mass murder in Isla Vista **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177 "2014-05-24T13:07:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/81 "2014-05-27T15:35:22Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > You seem to be suggesting that at some point there should have been clear signs that they had in their hands a “monster” and actions should have been taken to neutralize the “monster”. Actions involving involuntary committal and compulsory treatment. (post shortened) I don’t know what clear signs had been obvious or missed over the past 14 years but it had been determined that this monster should began therapy at age 8 and remained in therapy for years. He was probably medicated to some degree. He had no close friends, or any friends for that matter, but the people who knew him thought he was scary and strange. His parents knew there was something wrong with him. If the story is correct, his therapist contacted the mother with concerns about her lil’ monsters well-being. Six or seven police officers were sent to the monsters home to check on his well-being. That seems like a lot to me. (What were the PO’s expecting?) The monster convinced them that he was normal. Maybe wellness checks should include internet posting checks also? idk. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/82 "2014-05-27T17:11:19Z")
Will you quit with the “monster” thing? I think we can all agree he was a despicable person. You’ve said it so much, I feel like I’m reading this week’s Sesame Street transcript. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/83 "2014-05-27T18:08:06Z")
> [@j666](#): > > No. Weirdly, they are called “female college students”. > > Oh, that is not a shot at you - it’s just weird to me that the distinction in always made. Yeah. Coeducation was the nifty idea that it might be possible for women and men to attend the same college without fire raining from the sky. Because there were more men’s colleges than women’s colleges, mostly this meant, at the beginning, a growing trickle of women attending formerly men-only colleges. I suspect that the term coed came into use at about the same time that the pearl-clutching started to die down. Coed always seemed to be a cute sort of word, a used in a yes, they’re here, but they’re harmless kind of way. Definitely patronizing, but not necessarily hostile. Anyone with real use history of the word please jump in and correct. It’s an increasingly archaic word, but it’s demise has been slowed by the fact that it’s a very short word that can help the word count of an article with a space limit. That’s where I’ve seen it most in the last decade. “Female college student” is 22 characters, counting the spaces, while “coed” is four. It takes up less than 1/5 the space. It has baggage, but its brevity keeps it alive. > [@PastTense](#): > > False: > > 1. They sent him to therapists starting when he was a young kid. > 2. A month ago they complained to the police–who ended up sending SIX or so police to go and do a mental health check. Our Sunday paper included an article stating that the police who did the check did not see the video first. That the parents sent links or copies but that they weren’t forwarded to the field cops. If true, I suspect that might have made a difference. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/84 "2014-05-27T20:08:38Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > False: > > 1. They sent him to therapists starting when he was a young kid. > 2. A month ago they complained to the police–who ended up sending SIX or so police to go and do a mental health check. Which proves my point – if this kid had a genuine psychiatric history, [the cops would have shot him dead instead.](http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/justice/north-carolina-teen-killed/) :mad: And the fact that he was seeing a therapist means nothing. _Every_ parent in L.A. sends their children to therapy whenever they start acting like bratty children. > [@bump](#): > > They also need to revise the laws about behaviors by known mentally ill people- if you are a known nut, and you are fixated on reading up on how to murder people, then that should be enough to commit you for a moderate amount of time. Oh sure, sounds like a great idea…after all, it worked out wonderfully [for these people.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_gulag) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/85 "2014-05-27T21:00:24Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > So what, we just let him get away with it? Typical liberal attitude. It makes me sick. > [@sparky\_1](#): > > Is this going to be a monthly or weekly event now in America? It’s going to be weekly. On Tuesdays right after American Idol starting this fall. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/86 "2014-05-27T21:14:56Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Will you quit with the “monster” thing? I think we can all agree he was a despicable person. > > You’ve said it so much, I feel like I’m reading this week’s Sesame Street transcript. I could ask people to stop using the quote feature or to refrain from using “that word” themselves. That appears to count for over half of the uses of the word monster in this thread. Oops, I didn’t mean to use “that word” again. Would you mind retyping one of my “that word” posts in a manner that you find acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/87 "2014-05-27T21:25:09Z")
How about not using it so often that it sounds like a verbal tic when read aloud. That would be an excellent first step toward not sounding totally ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/88 "2014-05-27T21:39:37Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > How about not using it so often that it sounds like a verbal tic when read aloud. That would be an excellent first step toward not sounding totally ridiculous. Maybe you should stop reading threads/posts out loud??? I think you maybe confusing the number of times I wrote “that word” with the number of times that others used “that word” plus the number of times “that word” was quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/89 "2014-05-27T21:52:11Z")
Not confused at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/90 "2014-05-27T21:55:13Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > From his “manifesto”: _Every single time I’ve seen a guy walk around with his beautiful girlfriend, I’ve always wanted to kill them both in the most painful way possible. They deserve it. They must be punished. The males deserve to be punished for living a better and more pleasurable life than me, and the females deserve to be punished for giving that pleasurable life to those males instead of me. On the Day of Retribution, I will finally be able to punish them ALL. When I think about the amazing and blissful life I could have lived if only females were sexually attracted to me, my entire being burns with hatred. They denied me a happy life, and in return I will take away all of their lives. It is only fair. I am not part of the human race. Humanity has rejected me. The females of the human species have never wanted to mate with me, so how could I possibly consider myself part of humanity? Humanity has never accepted me among them, and now I know why. I am more than human. I am superior to them all. I am Elliot Rodger… Magnificent, glorious, supreme, eminent… Divine! I am the closest thing there is to a living god. Humanity is a disgusting, depraved, and evil species. It is my purpose to punish them all. I will purify the world of everything that is wrong with it. On the Day of Retribution, I will truly be a powerful god, punishing everyone I deem to be impure and depraved._ Sweet Jesus. If I saw such a thing in a movie script or novel I’d reject it as too unbelievably over the top. In a weird way I almost halfway hope that the above was just another put-on, because I have hard time accepting that someone could be _that type_ of nuts - a fucking _cartoon_. But considering the evidence it seems he was sincere :(. Sincerely **BUGFUCK CRAZY**. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/91 "2014-05-27T22:04:12Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Not confused at all. In that case, my answer is no. This mentally defective moron is a monster. I will strive to never mention his name. I believe that is what these mass-murders want. He is the Isla Vista monster. That’s all he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/92 "2014-05-27T23:11:32Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > In that case, my answer is no. This mentally defective moron is a monster. I will strive to never mention his name. I believe that is what these mass-murders want. He is the Isla Vista monster. That’s all he deserves. He dehumanized others, so let’s dehumanize him, then, is what you are saying? But even granting that… There’s a reason I used quote marks when following up to you earlier, and it’s that your preferred term is only useful as after-the-fact shorthand, but it would have at no point come up in any assessment that could be used to impose the _preemptive_ confinement and involuntary treatment you seemed to be advocating. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/93 "2014-05-28T15:16:48Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > He dehumanized others, so let’s dehumanize him, then, is what you are saying? > > But even granting that… There’s a reason I used quote marks when following up to you earlier, and it’s that your preferred term is only useful as after-the-fact shorthand, but it would have at no point come up in any assessment that could be used to impose the _preemptive_ confinement and involuntary treatment you seemed to be advocating. He’s a mass murderer. A dead mass murderer. Color him any way that makes you feel better about yourself or the world in general. I consider him a monster because he acted as a monster. It is an after-the-fact description. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/94 "2014-05-28T17:00:12Z")
Actually the really interesting question is not why didn’t the parents/therapists/police do something? Instead it is: Why didn’t the roommates move out? They had vastly more interaction with this guy than any of those previously mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/95 "2014-05-28T17:03:30Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > He’s a mass murderer. A dead mass murderer. Color him any way that makes you feel better about yourself or the world in general. > > I consider him a monster because he acted as a monster. It is an after-the-fact description. Hey, you were the one using the term while asking if he could have been\* involuntarily\* confined and medicated _beforehand_. I’m just pointing out that is not a diagnosis and you just agreed with that. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/96 "2014-05-28T17:48:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Hey, you were the one using the term while asking if he could have been\* involuntarily\* confined and medicated _beforehand_. I’m just pointing out that is not a diagnosis and you just agreed with that. Hey??? I would not have referred to him as a monster before he had committed mass murder. I would have used his name or possibly, this guy, that guy, this poor bastard, etc… Now that he is known as a mass murdering, deranged lunatic, I see no reason not to refer to him as a monster. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/97 "2014-05-28T18:06:45Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Actually the really interesting question is not why didn’t the parents/therapists/police do something? > > Instead it is: > Why didn’t the roommates move out? > > They had vastly more interaction with this guy than any of those previously mentioned. They were subject to a lease. They were going to move out in June. IV rentals in the “student ghetto” are interesting. It’s very common for individual tenants to have a lease with the landlord for use of the apartment instead of one group of people renting the apartment together. Those other guys were stuck with him. They didn’t choose him to share the apartment. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/98 "2014-05-28T21:33:56Z")
IV, the guy’s hometown, and his schools are probably awash with reporters looking to find someone who knew him personally to interview and provide anecdotes. But I don’t see any such stories on the news, at least so far. Didn’t the guy have friends, classmates, cousins? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/99 "2014-05-28T22:02:58Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > IV, the guy’s hometown, and his schools are probably awash with reporters looking to find someone who knew him personally to interview and provide anecdotes. But I don’t see any such stories on the news, at least so far. Didn’t the guy have friends, classmates, cousins? That’s something that I wondered as well. One rag found a woman who he mentioned in the manifesto as a friend as a young child. They posted pictures from her Facebook including some shots of her in a slinky dress or something. Her father said something like, “leave her the hell alone. She barely remembers the guy.” The guy briefly attended the JC across town from the university and IV. He wasn’t a student at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177/100 "2014-05-28T22:17:03Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > IV, the guy’s hometown, and his schools are probably awash with reporters looking to find someone who knew him personally to interview and provide anecdotes. But I don’t see any such stories on the news, at least so far. Didn’t the guy have friends, classmates, cousins? I hate to admit it but I skimmed the manifesto (it’s grimly fascinating), and in fact he had almost no friends. He had a few friends who were children of his parents’ friends, but he gradually lost all of them due to the fact that he was a sociopathic weirdo. He managed to alienate every roommate he ever had. His Facebook page has almost no pictures other than selfies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-and-mass-murder-in-isla-vista/689177.md?page=4)