Rodger’s mother, Lichin, who saw the e-mail at 9:17 p.m. PT, immediately went to Rodger’s YouTube page, where he had been known to post videos about himself. According to Astaire, that’s when Rodger’s mother saw her son’s latest video, called “Retribution,” that he posted Friday, the day of the shootings.

In the video, Rodger outlined his plan of “slaughtering” women at a sorority house at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

His mother called Rodger’s father, Peter, and said he had to watch the YouTube video. At the time, Peter Rodger had not yet seen the manifesto. Lichin Rodger called 911, and the parents set off for Santa Barbara from Los Angeles, according to Astaire. En route, they heard there was a shooting. Later that night, they found out their son was behind the violence.