LOS ANGELES (AP) — Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies who checked on Elliot Rodger three weeks before he killed six college students were aware he had posted disturbing videos but never viewed them before or after determining he was not a threat to himself or others, the department disclosed Thursday. According to the statement from the sheriff's office, four deputies, a police officer and a dispatcher in training were sent to Rodger's apartment after being informed by the county's mental health hotline that Rodger's therapist and mother were concerned about videos he posted online. Hoover did not respond immediately to an email seeking more information on why the deputies didn't watch the videos, the content of the videos and what specific information was relayed from the mother that prompted the check at his apartment. The statement does not explain why the videos were not viewed or whether the deputies knew anything about the contents beyond a description of them being "disturbing." But the group who went to Rodger's Seville Road apartment included deputies who were "familiar with Rodger" from a January incident, when he accused his roommate of stealing $22 worth of candles. "When questioned by the deputies about reported disturbing videos he had posted online, Rodger told them he was having trouble fitting in socially in Isla Vista and the videos were merely a way of expressing himself," the statement said. "Based upon the information available to them at the time," the statement continued, "sheriff's deputies concluded that Rodger was not an immediate threat to himself or others, and that they did not have cause to place him on an involuntary mental health hold, or to enter and search his residence. Rodger "told her he was fine and that he would call her later." The visit lasted about 10 minutes, during which officers found him shy and polite. Rodger wrote of the April 30 interaction in a 137-page document in which he outlined what he called his "Day of Retribution," saying he had three semiautomatic weapons hidden in his bedroom at the time and had written up plans for the assault. He wrote that the deputies asked him if he had suicidal thoughts, but "I tactfully told them that it was all a misunderstanding and they finally left. If they had demanded to search my room ... that would have ended everything," he wrote. Rodger wrote in the manifesto about the April 30 visit by the deputies and said it prompted him to remove most of his videos from YouTube.
– Police are now confirming they were aware as early as late April that Elliot Rodger posted "disturbing" videos online, but didn't watch them, even after a visit to Rodger's apartment weeks before the Isla Vista shooting. Four deputies, a UC Santa Barbara police officer, and a dispatcher in training visited Rodger for a welfare check on April 30. How officials are explaining their actions, per a statement from the sheriff's office: They say Rodger was "shy, timid, and polite" during the 10-minute visit and was deemed "not an immediate threat to himself or others." "Rodger told them he was having trouble fitting in socially in Isla Vista and the videos were merely a way of expressing himself," the statement reads. "They did not have cause to place him on an involuntary mental health hold, or to enter and search his residence. Therefore, they did not view the videos or conduct a weapons check." This admission corrects a statement issued Sunday that said "the sheriff's office was not aware of any videos until after the shooting rampage," the AP notes. In his manifesto, Rodger wrote that he deleted the majority of the videos—which the Los Angeles Times reports weren't as sinister as the one he uploaded before the shooting—from YouTube after the check, but he re-posted at least some of them in the week leading up to the killings.