hotline. deputies check on him at his apartment. they determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. he was, as i said, courteous and polite. he appeared timid and shy. reporter: a determination that turns out to have grave consequences. on friday, just before the shooting, rodger ec-mails a 137-page diatribe to his parents and one therapist. in it, he thought his plan was busted when the police showed up writing, if that were the case, the police would have searched my room, found all of my guns and weapons along with my writings about what i plan to do with them. i would have been in jail and denied the chance to exact revenge on my enemies. i can t imagine a hell more than that. rodger s mother finds the
santa barbara rampage. there are no classes today so students can attend a memorial service. as the campus community comes together, we are learning more about the minutes before the killing spree. abc s mary bruce has the latest. reporter: elliot rodger s gruesome plot was underway when his parents learned of his chilling manifesto detailing his hatred, loneliness and plan to kill. you force me to suffer all my life and now i ll make you all suffer. reporter: his parents frantically rushed to intervene but it was too late. they had seen red flags before. weeks ago they contacted the police concerned about their son s disturbing on-line rants. police investigated but found nothing suspicious. they determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. reporter: rodger boasted about the close call. writing, if they had demanded to search my room, that would have ended everything. with three legally purchased
we start with new details in the santa barbara rampage. there are no classes today so students can attend a memorial service. as the campus community comes together, we are learning more about the minutes before the killing spree. abc s mary bruce has the latest. reporter: elliot rodger s gruesome plot was underway when his parents learned of his chilling manifesto detailing his hatred, loneliness and plan to kill. you force me to suffer all my life and now i ll make you all suffer. reporter: his parents frantically rushed to intervene but it was too late. they had seen red flags before. weeks ago they contacted the police concerned about their son s disturbing on-line rants. police investigated but found nothing suspicious. they determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. reporter: rodger boasted about the close call. writing, if they had demanded to search my room, that would have ended everything. with three legally purchased
j jennifer bjorklund, thank you so much. let s bring in a psychiatrist from langone center. and also, former fbi profiler and msnbc analyst clint van zandt. could more have been done to stop this given that police had three prior contacts with elliot rodger and the last one at the request of the therapist, and this is what the sheriff of santa barbara had to say. the deputies contacted him directly at his residence, and they determined that he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. he was, as i said, courteous and polite and appeared timid and shy. all right. so was there more that the police could have done? it does not appear that they checked the youtube videos that had the family concerned or his room and no reason of concern for them.
last month, the videos alarmed his family. and as rodger said in a manifesto he sent to his parents, he told deputies it was all a misunderstanding. thankfully, he wrote, all suspicion was dropped. he did not meet criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. reporter: with no indication of being an immediate threat, there was nothing they could do. the first three by stabbing, his room mates, identified as three men from northern california. and 19-year-old veronica weiss, her friends distraught. he was innocent, you know? very nice, she didn t deserve this. and 22-year-old katie cooper, just weeks from graduating. and chris martinez, a sophomore english major. he was the most warm, loving,