Accused SPU shooter: 'God betrayed them like he betrayed me'

SEATTLE -- June 5th on the Seattle Pacific University campus was a day of violence, fear and sadness.

A gunman opened fire on students with a shotgun. When the shooting was over, one person was dead and two others were injured.

Immediately came the question, why?

With the release of the journal of accused SPU shooter Aaron Ybarra, we have an answer.

The "goal, as evidenced in the journal, is to take out as many people as they can and then themselves and that's what this guy would have done had he not been tackled. He would have killed himself,” retired FBI profiler Rick Mathis said Tuesday night.

Mathers studied a number of mass shooters and serial killers.

The SPU shooter fits the mass shooter mold, he said.

"His grievances against people, against society, against fellow students, against relatives, etc. They have the delusion that people are against them and harassing them and they're going to take their retribution out on somebody,” Mathers said.

He even thought God was against him. He wrote on the first page of the journal, "God betrayed them like he betrayed me."



In fact, on the day of the shooting, Ybarra allegedly wrote in his journal:

“This is it. I’m finally doing this; so excited. No matter how cute the girls and no matter how cool the guy is I just want people to die and I’m going to die with them.”

Ybarra thought about attacking the Washington State University campus along with Central, Eastern but decided on Seattle Pacific because it was closer and he was less familiar with it.

He even visited SPU, claiming to be transfer student to try and decide where to launch his attack.

Otto Miller Hall was targeted.

"These are mass shootings and the personalities are usually the same in all cases; a person who perceives injustice against themselves. They're going to retaliate against many people. Most of the time it's people they don't know,” Mathers said.

Ybarra also had his sights set on his neighborhood bar, The Getaway, in Mountlake Terrace.

He wrote: “If I have time I will try to get my revenge on some of the guys I hate. The trash talkers at the gateway. The first one will be that guy in the cowboy hat. If I get the chance I will poison your beer when you and the others are not looking.”

Of another potential target he wrote, “I want to cut him up and secretly sell him to super markets.”

"They make their motive known either in video tape by tape recorder or, in this case, this journal. They let society know why they are doing it,” Mathers said.

Ybarra is due back in court Sept. 10. He talked about his history of mental illness in his journal and his attorneys say they will pursue an insanity defense.

The full redacted journal released Tuesday is below. Warning, there is profanity and disturbing descriptions in his writings.

journal.redacted