Killer's parents 'grieve more for victims'

The parents of US mass murderer Elliot Rodger are grieving more for the son's victims than for the young man himself, according to a friend of the couple.

Elliott Rodger killed himself after he fatally stabbed three people in his California apartment building and shot dead three others last week.

A friend of Rodger's parents, Simon Astaire, told the New York Post it was "very difficult" to be in the pair's company.

"They are in grief," Mr Astaire said.

"It would be true to say they mourn the loss of the others more than their son."

The family friend added that the Rodger's parents, British filmmaker Peter Rodger and ex-wife Li Chin Rodger "are unrecognisable" since last weekend's tragedy.

He said the couple were trying to contact families of their son's victims.

"They are reaching out. Both sides are reaching out at the moment," Mr Astaire said without providing further details.

The family friend said he had only met Elliott a few times but remembers an encounter he had with the young man at a Christmas party two years ago.

"I tried to make conversation with him. He was very distant. I didn't feel in any way that he was aggressive," Mr Astaire said.

"He seemed at the time a gentle soul, but how wrong can you be?"

Source: New York Post

Author: Martin Zavan, Approving editor: Simon Black