Investigators study video following deadly drive-by shootings

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — Police investigating last night’s deadly drive-by shootings in Southern California are studying a video posted on YouTube of a young man describing plans to shoot women.

They’re not saying whether the person in the video is a suspect in the shootings, which left seven people dead, including the suspected gunman. But Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown says investigators are analyzing written and videotaped evidence that suggests it was “a premeditated mass murder.”

Seven others were wounded in the attack near the University of California, Santa Barbara campus in the beachside community of Isla Vista.

The sheriff says the gunman got into two gun battles with deputies before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. The suspect was found dead inside the car with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn’t clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide.

A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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