A 19-year-old man who killed two neighbors then himself while dressed in a cape and paintball mask had posted threats and suicidal messages on a Web site, according to a report published Tuesday.
William Freund posted an Internet message Oct. 16 that threatened a “Terror Campaign to hurt those that have hurt me,” the Los Angeles Times reported. In the same message, he said: “My future ended some time ago.”
The messages were posted on wrongplanet.net, a site used by people with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism-like neurological disorder marked by poor social skills and communication problems. He wrote on the site that he was diagnosed at age 16, but the Times reported details of his medical treatment were unavailable.
The founder of the Web site, George Mason University student Alexander Plank, said volunteer monitors were concerned about the messages and tried unsuccessfully to find Freund’s parents. After seeing news accounts of the shootings, Plank contacted police.
“We’re looking into his mental health at the time of the shooting,” said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.
On Saturday, Freund, who lived with his parents in the upscale community of Aliso Viejo, donned a dark cape and a paintball mask. Armed with a shotgun, he drove to a nearby neighbor’s house and shot to death Christina Smith, 22, and her father, Vernon Smith, 45.
After the gun apparently jammed when trying to shoot another neighbor, he walked home and killed himself.
On the Web site, Freund wrote that he had purchased a 12-gauge shotgun for defense, and that his health was deteriorating because of a new medication. “I feel like I need to kill myself,” he wrote.
On Oct. 19, he asked for references to a mental hospital and said he needed counseling and training in social skills. He also wrote that he wished he had some friends — emphasizing it with 75 exclamation points.
Some of the messages remained on the site Tuesday morning.