Seattle Police Arrest Man Who Claimed to Be ‘Next Elliot Rodger’

A Seattle man who claimed to idolize Santa Barbara gunman Elliot Rodger and allegedly made online threats to murder women at the University of Washington has been arrested and detained by police, KIRO TV reports.

Keshav Bhide, 23, is suspected of writing comments on online forums including YouTube and Google+ claiming “everything Elliot did is perfectly justified.”

Rodgers went on a murder spree at UC Santa Barbara, killing six people before taking his own life, after leaving a manifesto and various YouTube videos threatening retribution against the women who were romantically uninterested in him.

Bhide is suspected of making similar threats. The FBI alerted Seattle police (SPD) to online comments including: “I am the next Elliot Rodger and guess what I’ll do the right thing this time” and “I live in Seattle and go to UW, that’s all I’ll give you. I’ll make sure I kill only women.”

KIRO reports that anonymous threats were made to UW sororities earlier this month and chalk outlines of bodies were drawn outside of some houses. These incidents have not been linked to Bhide, who is expected to be charged with cyberstalking and felony harassment this week and is currently being held on $150,001 bail.

[KIRO TV]