Peter Rodger Speaks Out About Elliot Rodger’s Santa Barbara Mass Shooting, ‘Son Hid His Pain Well’
The father of mass killer Elliot Rodger spoke to Barbara Walters on 20/20 Friday night. It has been almost five weeks since the horrifying news that six people were killed and another 13 injured during a Santa Barbara mass shooting by a disturbed 22-year-old Elliot Rodger.
Prior to the killing, Elliot had uploaded a YouTube video titled “Elliot Rodger’s Retribution” that discussed his reasoning for the mass shooting, which included feelings of isolation and trouble getting girls. The video was uploaded just hours before the shooting. In addition to the video, Elliot also sent a 137-page manifesto to his father, Peter Rodger, titled “My Twisted World.”
Peter said as soon as he got the manifesto and watched one of Elliot’s YouTube videos they immediately began calling his phone to no avail. Friends and family all jumped into vehicles and headed to Elliot’s apartment, but where already too late. Just shortly before the family made it to the apartment, Elliot had carried out his plan and shot and killed himself.
Since the mass shooting in Santa Barbara, Peter Rodger has been trying to understand how it all happened and why his son changed. Peter noted that his “son hid his pain well.” Peter is a prominent individual in Hollywood. He worked as assistant Director in the Hunger Games movies and never imagined his son was capable of such atrocities, according to the LA Times.
In his interview with Walters, Peter described his son as “not evil but very sick.” Peter said something changed in his son:
“Something happened to him. He was the most beautiful, kind, sweetheart of a boy. And something happened to him.”
What bothered Peter the most was that Elliot’s mother had previously seen one of the YouTube videos and called authorities to check on her son in his apartment. The authorities went by the apartment and told the family everything was okay. Had the police done a simple gun check on Elliot they would have seen a sinister plan unfolding. In a later video, Elliot says his “plans would have been foiled” had the police found those gun purchases. Peter agreed and said:
“If they did do a gun check, they would know that Elliot had bought three automatic weapons. They would have the right to seize him for 24 hours, and his whole scheme would’ve been over and thwarted.”
Peter, however, has taken full responsibility for his son’s actions, saying, “his best [as a father] wasn’t good enough.” Peter Rodger has now made it his responsibility to help stop this from happening to anyone else as “too many lives are being lost.”
Rodger said in a letter to ABC News that he has created a website, AskForHelp.org, where visitors can find resources for mental illness. See some of the interview with Walters and Peter Rodgers as they discuss Elliot and his mental illness:
