A HOLLYWOOD director has issued a statement saying he believes his son is the shooter responsible for the "mass murder" of six people near the University of California in Santa Barbara.
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Police are analysing a chilling video message taped by Elliot Rodger which says he plans to take revenge against humanity as retribution for his loneliness and because "girls have never been attracted to me".
In a disturbing twist, director Peter Rodger and his wife Moroccan-born French actress Soumaya Akaaboune said through their lawyer that they contacted police several weeks ago after seeing a series of YouTube videos their son posted which made references to suicide and murder.
Authorities have not yet formally identified Rodger as the shooter, found dead at the wheel of a crashed BMW in the Santa Barbara neighbourhood of Isla Vista.
But his family today extended sympathy to the victims.
"We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain, and our hearts go out to everybody involved," the statement said.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff, Bill Brown, said at a press conference on Saturday the video, posted on YouTube and titled Elliot Rodger’s retribution, "appears to be connected with this crime".
In the six-minute video, the young man who identifies himself as a student in Santa Barbara, says: “This is my last video, it all has to come to this. Tomorrow I will have my revenge against humanity, against all of you".
As he sits in his car recording the video, he talks about his loneliness, alienation and rage, saying, “girls gave their affection and sex and love to other men but never to me".
"Girls, all I’ve ever wanted was to love you and to be loved by you. I’ve wanted sex. I’ve wanted love, affection, adoration. You think I’m unworthy of it. That’s a crime that can never be forgiven. If I can’t have you girls, I will destroy you.
"I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you. You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one, the true alpha male."
He says that although he is 22 he has never even been kissed or had sex.
Country Sheriff Brown told reporters the shooting was a "mass murder situation", which involved two separate shoot-outs with police as they tried to stop his rampage.
Authorities were "analysing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a pre-meditated mass murder".
Brown said the shooting began shortly before 9.30pm near a Santa Barbara college campus.
Emergency personnel rushed to the scene and as they were performing first aid on the victims, more shots were fired.
At 9.33pm, six minutes after the initial call, the suspect engaged in a shoot out with officers, Brown said.
The suspect then fled in his vehicle before being confronted by a police officer where another exchange of gunfire occurred.
Brown said he then sped off, before he crashed into a parked vehicle.
When deputies approached the vehicle, they found he was dead from a gunshot wound to the head. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene.
Brown confirmed that in all, seven people, including the suspect, were killed and another seven wounded.
The shootings occurred at several sites, resulting in nine crime scenes.
Police said they have made a "preliminary" identification of the suspect but have not released his name until a positive identification has been made.
The Santa Barbara Independent reports photos taken by the newspaper of the suspect’s crashed vehicle show a license plate number that matches the one on the car featured on Elliot Rodger’s Facebook page.
Elliot Rodger's father is believed to be Peter Rodger, who was the assistant director of The Hunger Games and directed Australian film star Hugh Jackman in Oh My God.
A student told KEYT-TV he saw shots fired from a BMW, fatally striking one woman and critically injuring another woman.
"I heard shots, scream, pain," Michael Vitak said. "All emotions. I hope she is going to be fine."
The shooting took place in student enclave on the Friday night before the Memorial Day long weekend, considered start of summer in America.
A visibly shaken student told the station she was approached by the driver of a black BMW who flashed a handgun and asked "Hey, what's up?", AP reported.
The student, who didn't provide her full name, said thought he was carrying an airsoft gun and kept walking.
She said seconds later, she felt something buzz by her head and quickly realised they were bullets.
Seven people were taken to hospital with either gunshot wounds or injuries sustained when the suspected shooter crashed his car. One was in a life-threatening condition.
