A Hollywood director and his family believe his son is responsible for a shooting rampage near a Santa Barbara university campus, an attorney for the director said today.
The family has not yet seen his body, but they have been told he was killed and believe he killed six people tonight, attorney Alan Shifman said.
Shifman is the attorney for Peter Rodger, who was an assistant director on "The Hunger Games" film series. Authorities have not confirmed the identity of the shooter.
Police said a gunman driving a BMW near the university campus went on a rampage that left seven people dead, including the shooter, authorities said today, describing the tragedy as "obviously the work of a mad man".
Seven people remain hospitalized with gunshot wounds or other injuries, including one who has undergone surgery, following the shooting spree last night in the beachside community of Isla Vista, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
The gunman got into two gun battles with police before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. Deputies found the lone suspect dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by police gunfire or if he committed suicide, Brown said.
A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Investigators know the gunman's name, but Brown said he could not release it pending notification of relatives.
Describing the atrocity as "premeditated mass murder," Brown said, authorities were analysing a disturbing YouTube video posted that shows a young man describing plans to shoot women that appears to be connected to the attack.
