Elliot Rodger, the UCSB shooter, felt that winning the lottery was 'the only way out'

[Cali_Democrat]

<...>

3. Winning a lottery: 'The only way out'

Rodger became convinced that winning the Megamillions lottery was his destiny. He began obsessively playing it and even drove to Arizona from California four times to buy Powerball tickets. "I saw winning the lottery as the only way out," he wrote.

"I knew I was always destined for great things. This must be it! I was destined to be the winner of the highest lottery jackpot in existence. I knew right then and there that this jackpot was meant for me. Who else deserved such a victory? I had been through so much rejection, suffering, and injustice in my life, and this was to be my salvation. With my whole body filled with feverish hope, I spent $700 dollars on lottery tickets for this drawing. As I spent this money, I imagined all the amazing sex I would have with a beautiful model girlfriend I would have once I become a man of wealth."

After repeatedly not winning the lottery, Rodger saw that his plan for his "Day of Retribution" against the world "was more real than ever before."

"Without the prospect of becoming wealthy at a young age, I had nothing to live for now. I was going to be a virgin outcast forever. I realized that I had to start planning and preparing for the Day of Retribution, even though I hadn't yet had any idea of what day that would be."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/25/justice/california-shooting-revelations/

[yuiyoshida]

1. look at this:

Rodger began practicing shooting at a gun range in Oxnard, California, after failing to win the $120 million Megamillions lottery in September 2012, according to his writing.

"I had the knowledge, in the back of my mind, that the Day of Retribution was very possible now. Going to the shooting range while I waited for my laptop gave me the perfect opportunity to gain some initial training in shooting guns, which will be the main weapons I use as vengeance against my enemies when the Day of Retribution ultimately comes to pass.

"I walked into the range, rented a handgun from the ugly old redneck cashier, and started to practice shooting at paper targets. As I fired my first few rounds, I felt so sick to the stomach. I questioned my whole life, and I looked at the gun in front of me and asked myself 'What am I doing here? How could things have led to this?' I couldn't believe my life was actually turning out this way. There I was, practicing shooting with real guns because I had a plan to carry out a massacre."



Did his conscience actually bother him?

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Pathological degree of a Narcissistic Personality disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder in which a person is excessively preoccupied with

personal adequacy,
power,
prestige
and vanity,

mentally unable to see the destructive damage they are causing to themselves and to others in the process..... wikipedia

I wonder if anyone has done a word cloud on his manifesto yet?

[Cali_Democrat]

3. A true sociopath...

one of the creepiest killers I've seen. We know so much about him in just two days because he was so willing to discuss his circumstances or perceived circumstances.

Unbelievable.

When I was in college 10 years ago I used to travel up to UCSB from UCLA to party with my friends who attended that school. I know the area very well.

Crazy.

[yuiyoshida]

4. Oh yeah..

I lived in Santa Barbara for two years... I know that area as well.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Ya...it's a great place where young adults are having the time of their lives

...that last thing you expect is to be gunned down.

awful.

[yuiyoshida]

6. I worked at Santa Barbara Cottage Hosptial

Seems there were always a few gun shot victims coming into the ER every once in a while. I loved working there but sometimes it
was a bit disturbing. (I was a phone operator at the Hospital.)

[Cali_Democrat]

7. WOW

Were many of the incidents alcohol related? I remember an incident in the early 2000's when a deranged kid drove his car down a street there and ran over a bunch of people...a few were killed.

Then a bunch of people dragged him out of the car and started beating him.

[yuiyoshida]

8. One situation shocked me..

A guy was hit by car. He died because, of religious reasons, he refused a transfusion and died. The driver was charged with Manslaughter, because the patient refused treatment.

The incident you mention I remember. We also answered the phones for Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. The other bizarre thing was our office was on the same floor as the Security office and the Morgue. Security often parked the gurneys with a body bag right next to our (often open) door. I hated to walk by the body bag, it freaked me out.

[CJCRANE]

9. Something that I haven't heard mentioned...

Is how these "Law of Attraction" techniques can change people.

I think they can have a negative effect on people who already have issues. Of course for most it won't go to such a drastic level.

But the "Law of Attraction" and similar stuff tells you that you can have anything that you want and anything that anyone else has.

So you become focused on what you WANT, not who you are, or what you can do.

And then when you look at the pop culture with teen pop stars living very adult lives, you can understand how some kids think they need to have it all.

The irony, is that if he had written a screenplay with the same ideas (i.e. kept his ideas as fiction) he might have made some money and achieved what he wanted.