Lessons from a mass shooter's mother

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     May 16, 2024 Hi readers. This is Mark Follman, national affairs editor at Mother Jones. I’ve spent the past two years investigating a notorious massacre near Santa Barbara, California—a tragedy that claimed [the lives]( of college students Weihan Wang, Cheng Hong, George Chen, Katherine Cooper, Veronika Weiss, and Christopher Martinez. The attacker, Elliot Rodger, also injured 14 other people before killing himself. Today, we published [my cover story]( featuring extensive interviews with the killer’s mother, Chin Rodger, as well as a trove of new evidence and insights about the case. An accompanying Reveal audio investigation will allow the public to hear from Chin directly for the first time, as she talks about her efforts to help experts prevent future attacks. “I hope my hindsight will be others’ foresight,” Chin told me, after we began talking in late 2021. She said that she had stayed silent for years because she feared that telling her story would only harm the victims’ families more. But after she learned about the emerging field of [behavioral threat assessment](—a community-based method that has helped avert deadly attacks—she committed herself to aiding that effort. [My reporting includes](: • Chin’s account of what she did and didn’t notice, or misunderstood, about her troubled son’s behaviors—warning signs that she had no way of knowing about back then, but that can potentially help experts, and the public, prevent mass shootings • Previously unreported case evidence from the perpetrator’s cellphone videos, secret diaries, and private email communications • Interviews with top threat assessment experts at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and elsewhere that cast new light on this pivotal case • Evidence that calls into question the narrative of Elliot Rodger as an incel ringleader—a narrative that has motivated a decade’s worth of copycat attackers, including at least one mass murderer who in reality had little connection to the so-called incel movement • Perspective from prevention experts on how red flag laws and threat assessment programs can be key tools for stopping attacks This month marks 10 years since the carnage perpetrated by Elliot Rodger. Ultimately, my hope is that this [deeper investigation of the tragedy]( will serve to improve public understanding of mass shootings—and raise awareness of what we all can do to help prevent the next one. —Mark Follman Advertisement [Stop Trump Summit]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Lessons From a Mass Shooter’s Mother]( A decade after her son committed a massacre, Chin Rodger is on a quest to help prevent the next tragedy. BY MARK FOLLMAN MOJO MUST-READS BY MARK FOLLMAN   Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America The acclaimed debut book from journalist Mark Follman tells the story of a groundbreaking method that has prevented dozens of school and mass shootings—and offers hope for solving an ongoing national crisis. [Get Trigger Points here](. [Trending] [Report: After promising to halt bomb shipment, Biden moving to send $1 billion more in weapons to Israel]( BY JULIANNE MCSHANE   [America's billionaires are really going to hate this new Senate bill]( BY MICHAEL MECHANIC   [Yet another Republican comes out against no-fault divorce]( BY KATIE HERCHENROEDER   [These tribes are building crossings to save wildlife from becoming roadkill]( BY BEN GOLDFARB Advertisement [Stop Trump Summit]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Why I spent two years investigating a notorious mass shooting]( A decade after a massacre near Santa Barbara, interviews with the killer's mother hold valuable lessons for prevention. BY MARK FOLLMAN MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   An important update on our finances We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals—and we can’t sustain coming up short on [donations]( month after month. 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