A gunman who killed two women at a Florida yoga studio had previously posted misogynistic and racist videos online, it has emerged.
Seven people have been admitted to the hospital. Photo: AFP
Scott Paul Beierle, 40, had also been accused of harassing women and grabbing their bottoms, police say.
Beierle killed Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21, at the studio in Tallahassee on Friday, before taking his own life.
Officers are still trying to establish whether he had any links to the women.
All three had connections to Florida State University - Beierle a former student, Dr Van Vessem an employee and Ms Binkley a current student - but it is unclear if they knew one another.
Another five people were injured during the attack. Investigators have yet to give a possible motive for the shooting.
However, it seems Beierle, who lived in Deltona, Florida, was known to authorities as he had "been the subject of prior calls for service in the Tallahassee area related to harassment of young women", local police said in a statement.
In 2012 and 2016 he was arrested for grabbing women's bottoms, although prosecutors later dropped the charges.
Meanwhile, videos uncovered by BuzzFeed News show Beierle calling women "sl*ts" and "wh*res", also hitting out at women he said betrayed "their blood" by dating people of other races.
In another video, he appeared to sympathise with young men like Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in Isla Vista, California, in May 2014. He has since become a hero to an online community known as the "involuntarily celibate", or incels, who blame women for their lack of sexual partners.
Beierle, who had served in the military, also uploaded a video where he said he wanted to "blow off" a woman's head.
The videos date back to 2014, all posted within a three-day period.
- BBC
