02x04 - Enter the Ghost World

[bunniefuu]

Nye!
Oh!

[Sammy] Randy's YouTube channel
found this sweet spot

that I found entertaining.

It definitely was exciting
getting to know

a content creator
that you like a lot.

[Dr. Toles] Well-known creators
are finding out who he is

and his viewers start growing.

Thank you guys so much.
Thanks for --

But then...

everything changes.

[Randy] It's like I've finally
discovered who I truly am.

[Kyle] He believed that he could
only become his truest self

by becoming a female ghost
and joining them

in their universe.

Bam!
[imitates g*n shots]

[Billy]
Seeing the disturbing content
in his other videos,

it was a bad combination.
-[growls]

[Sammy] The most unsettling part
of the video is this girl

looks exactly like me.

I don't even think
there's human words

to describe how scared we were.

If I flip this next coin
and it lands on tails,

there's gonna be
devastation and destruction.

One...
[imitates g*n shot]

Two...

-Three!
-[g*n shot blasts]

[theme music playing]

[Randy screaming in high pitch]

The first time I found
Randy online,

I would have been
about 12 years old.

Nye.
What's up, you guys?

[Sammy] Me and my brother were
just kind of hanging out

in his bedroom watching
YouTube videos.

And I believe the first video
we came across was

one of the videos from his
"Just One of Those Days" series.

Randy had maybe 6,000
or 7,000 subscribers.

He was a little bit
of a smaller creator.

Gah!

But I guess that sort of dark,
self-deprecating humor

just, sort of,
found this sweet spot

that I found entertaining.

[thud]

[Randy] Whoa!
♪ You fell down on the ground ♪

♪ Makes me smile ♪

There definitely was that part
about Randy

that made me happy,
seeing him

find joy in making
YouTube videos.

It just seemed like he was just
a guy setting up a camera

in his living room

and just trying to make
other people laugh,

'cause he liked that.

-[thud]
-[Randy] Ah!

Why can't I fly?

[Sammy]
It did make it seem attainable
for someone like me

that you can pursue the things
that you want to do,

and you can be happy.

I am the leader
of Froot Loop Island.

Join me and wear a bag
of Froot Loops for a hat.

I started looking on other
social media platforms

just to follow him on there.

The first one I found
was his Instagram.

Every time he would post I would
like and comment underneath it.

As I became more active
on his Instagram account,

some of his other fans have
reached out to me

and encouraged me
to make a Twitter

and join them on there.

The core group was me,

Thomas,

Dave, and Haley.

We were all so sprawled out

everywhere
across the United States,

but we all became
this small friend group online

known as The Bubble.

Me and Haley would retweet
his stuff anytime

he tweeted something.

Randy did eventually follow
everyone in The Bubble back.

Our tweets would, of course,
come up on his timeline,

and he would interact
a lot more with us.

I do remember Randy initiating

the first direct message
towards me.

It definitely was exciting
getting to know

a content creator that you like
a lot more on a personal level.

When I first joined The Bubble,
I was about 12 years old

going on 13.

And I remember Randy
being 20, 21.

He never looked down on me,

never judged me.

It really felt like

"a big brother, little sister"
situation.

There was that connection where,

I don't wanna say
we were necessarily outcasts,

but it did feel that way
at times.

One of the first things
he told me was that he was

held back in kindergarten.

He was very introverted,
almost withdrawn.

They just didn't think
that he was ready socially.

[Dr. Toles]
Randy Stair was born on
September 17th, 1992,

in a place called
Dallas, Pennsylvania.

His mother, Lori, was
in nursing,

and his father, Robert,
worked at a grocery store.

He's a sensitive kid
and has a very big imagination,

but he's socially awkward.

[Kyle]
Randy was always an anxious kid

and had trouble socializing
at school,

never was really able to open up
to any other kids his age.

[Dr. Toles]
Randy, as a little kid,
loved cartoons

because he could escape
to this other world.

Shows like "Scooby-Doo,"
"Pokémon," or "Danny Phantom,"

he saw that these characters,
everybody knew who they were.

Everybody liked them.
And that was exciting to him.

And then Randy,
when he was 10 years old,

got his first camcorder.

There's something about filming
himself that made him feel

comfortable and safe.

[Randy] You want a close up?
Vroom!

Ow! Not that close!

He plays a role.
He's a character

in his own show.

Ah!

He felt that, "This version
of me that I create

could be likable
to other people."

[Randy]
This is Randy Stair signing off!

[Dr. Toles]
So when he learned
about what YouTube was,

his whole world exploded.

I could upload a video,
and that means the whole world

could see what I do?

So many possibilities.

Bloop, bloop, bloop!

He was hooked.

[Kyle] Randy first started
his own YouTube channel

in the eighth grade in 2007.

At the time, YouTube had
actually only launched

a year prior to Randy
uploading his first video.

If I were to pretend
that there was snow out here,

I'd probably look
like an idiot.

Agh!

[Dr. Toles]
At the beginning stages
of YouTube,

it was a world where
anything felt possible,

but people were still
navigating what that meant.

And so the idea for Randy
of uploading more content

to see what people would like,

that became one
of his obsessions.

Well-known creators
are finding out who he is

and liking his videos.

First question,
how does it feel to have

millions of people watching you?

Millions of people watching me?

That's crazy!

[Dr. Toles]
One he even collaborates with.

[Kyle] Damian had over

This video alone got Randy
about 35,000 views.

Damian has a well-known
character called

Mr. Wooden Alligator.

Why'd you do that?
Like, do you seriously have

nothing better to do?

[Mr. Wooden Alligator]
What else is there to do?

All I do is sit in a closet
for 10 months

until once again,
you stick me in your videos!

So what does Randy do?

He creates a character
called Mr. Horse Head.

What?
Stuffed animals can't talk!

[Mr. Horse Head]
I'm different than any other
stuffed animal.

I'm a talking horse head
on a stick!

Realizing this works,
he creates a couple

other characters.

An orca stuffed animal
named Whale.

-You're sick.
-[Whale] No, I'm a whale.

[Dr. Toles]
And rubbery orange frog
that he names Froggy.

Slowly but surely,

Randy's viewers start growing
into the hundreds,

then into the thousands.

This is positive feedback,
so he keeps going.

[Sammy]
His dream was to...

somehow make it famous
on YouTube.

Um, Imma keep making
videos for a good long time.

Thank you guys so much.
Thanks for listening to this.

But I do think there was
a part of him that wished

he had someone in his life
that supported him more.

His parents wanted him to take
a different career path.

Randy turns 18,
and his dad tells him,

"OK, son, time to get a job."

And Randy feels like,
"Well, YouTube is my job."

[Billy] Randy worked
at the local supermarket

right out of high school.

His dad was a manager
and he got him the job.

I was on overnights with Randy,
stacking boxes.

My girlfriend Victoria was
already working there.

I was more high-strung
than Victoria.

I had a bit of a temper
growing up.

She helped me dial it back
and not let so much bother me.

She would do the front end
of the store,

like cash registers and stuff
like that during the day,

and then at night,
she would do shelf stocking

alongside me and Randy.

We would prefer to work
the night shift together.

That way, we could spend time
with our son during the day.

We had pretty loyal customers.
They'd recognize you.

They'd know your first
and last name.

It's definitely
a close-knit town.

Everybody knows everybody.

The first impression
I had of Randy?

He was just quiet.
I didn't think too much of it.

I figured he doesn't like
to talk.

I would usually try to talk
to him most nights.

I know he wasn't the happiest
with the job.

I remember him saying the only
reason he worked there was

'cause his dad was
a supervisor and that he was

trying to become a YouTuber.

[Sammy]
Randy would complain about
working at the supermarket.

He just felt like he, kind of,
hit, like, a dead end.

I comforted him in the same way
he would comfort me.

My home life wasn't great
at the time.

I didn't have the greatest
relationship with my parents.

And then I also had
the same struggles in school.

I just didn't relate to a lot
of the kids.

He was always comforting to me.

He was adamant that I could

always talk to him
about anything.

But it was really weird
at times,

because it was like it
kept moving the goalpost.

You, at times, would feel like
you had grown closer to him,

but then he would back off

and put up these walls
around himself.

I feel like he did wear a mask
where he just appeared happy

and fine to everyone
all the time.

He kind of separated like,
the online version of himself

from like, who he actually was.

Also, he could fade away

behind this facade of being
this YouTube character.

[sinister tones playing]

[Kyle]
The truth was that Randy was
really becoming friends

with this group,
but more than friendship,

he wanted that fame
and that idea that he was

above everybody else.

The little bubble knew
about it, you know.

Sammy, Haley, TJ, James,

Dave.

One of the things I always
found weird was how

he would never Skype
with all of us,

but he was totally OK
with hosting live streams.

And all of the same people
from The Bubble would be

in the chat, and we would be
talking and typing with him.

We'll try to do this
for five hours.

[chuckles]

We'll see if I can do it.

[Sammy] He wanted to be
the only person on camera.

He wanted to set that boundary
between us as fans or friends.

I do think that that was why
he enjoyed being like

a one-man band, if you will.

It was like a control thing
with him.

I don't think he wanted to be
a part of the group.

I think he wanted
to rule the group.

[Randy]
This is it, guys.

This is where all the magic
has happened.

My room.

This has been my YouTube
workspace ever

since the beginning.

[Kyle]
Around this time, Randy moved
on to a local community college

to continue to hone his craft
and learn new skills that could

help him out on YouTube.

It's the only light I use.
It's just -- it's a light.

I don't really know what else
to say about it.

A little piece of paper over it
to soften it.

[Dr. Toles] Randy's taking
these video production classes,

and he started getting in touch
with his own personal themes

of who Randy actually felt
he was deep down.

In hindsight, some people
looked at some of these videos

like, "These were red flags.

Why didn't anyone do anything?"

The thing is,
his parents couldn't have known,

because as dark
as his content is getting

in the real world, he learns
to become a really good liar,

a masker, somebody
that and doesn't talk

about what's actually going on.

Why?
This suits you perfectly!

[Froggy screams in horror]

He really wanted to focus more
on the horror-oriented content,

but he was actually losing
viewership while doing so.

[Sammy]
At the time, it definitely was
a struggle trying to decipher

when he was acting...

[sinister tones playing]

[Sammy]
...and when he was being himself
on his YouTube channel.

We were still in touch
at the time,

just keeping an eye on him.

But his last video with the frog
and whale characters

was really when I started
to get actually concerned

about where his mind was going.

-[eerie white noise]
-[Froggy screams]

-Now stop it! Stay here!
-[Froggy screaming]

The level of anger
that was in that video...

[Randy in a somber voice]
I missed.

...just felt real.

[Whale crying]
Why?

Felt like he wanted to k*ll
that part of himself.

Like, if he really wanted
to retire these characters,

there could have been
so many other ways.

-You see this!
-[Froggy screams in horror]

This is what you've done!

[Sammy]
I don't feel like he was
trying to be dramatic.

He was just...

plain angry.

You bring me down
into the depths of despair!

While he is stabbing Froggy...

[Randy]
Oh, that hurt.

Right...
[grunts]

Oh, mother --

...he actually severs a tendon
in his finger

and has to have three surgeries.

[Randy] Not the greatest feeling
in the world.

[Sammy]
It did feel like

I was saying goodbye
to a certain part of Randy.

Like, he didn't wanna be
associated with that version

of himself at all anymore.

[Froggy]
Please get me the [bleep]
out of here!

[Randy]
I can't do that, Froggy.

[Froggy crying]
Why are you doing this!

Because she told me to.

[unsettling tones playing]

[Froggy screaming
in the background]

[Sammy]
Seeing that shot now,

along with him saying that,
"She told me to,"

makes me wonder how long was
the buildup to this, really?

Randy's profile picture...

I figured it was just something
that he had created himself,

because she was
his profile picture

on almost all of his platforms.

But really wasn't
until Randy started talking

about the character, that's how
I found out it was Ember McClain

from "Danny Phantom."

[Dr. Toles]
Randy loved the Nickelodeon
show, "Danny Phantom."

It's about a 14-year-old boy
who stumbles across a portal.

[Sammy] His parents are, like,
ghost hunters,

and he's messing around
in their lab,

and he ends up, like,

turning himself into,
like, half-human, half-ghost.

[Kyle]
One episode in particular that
Randy really connected with

came out when he was around

and that was season one,
episode 11.

That's when he's introduced
to Ember McClain,

and his whole life changes.

[Sammy]
Funny enough, I had watched
"Danny Phantom"

all the time growing up.

It's just that Ember McClain is,
I think, in maybe

one episode.
-Ember appears.

She's wearing
these super-cool shoes.

She's got blue hair.

Hello, Casper High!

[Dr. Toles]
All the kids start swarming
out of the school.

They start screaming.

Ember, Ember, Ember!

So here's Randy watching this,
and there's something

about this that feels
very empowering.

[Sammy]
Ember got her power off of...

having this control
on this fan base that was

obsessed with her.
-You got that right, baby pop.

[Sammy]
And I really think that was
what he was striving for.

On YouTube, he really just
wanted to be liked and admired

by as many people as possible.

[Kyle]
She became a comfort character
for him.

Randy would circle back to it
when he was feeling down.

[Sammy] I do remember
asking him one time

why he was obsessed with her.

And I think he just said
that he just liked her style.

He'd never really tried
to depict her in his videos

as a person that he'd talked
to before now.

[Ember]
What are you looking for?

Where the hell are they?

-[Ember] What?
-The frog and whale!

I was gonna bury 'em
in this box today!

[Ember] Oh, I took care of those
days ago.

It was starting to seem like
he really believed

some of the things that...

he would say in his videos.

[Randy] She's my queen.

That's all I can say.
She's always with me.

[Sammy] Seeing his obsession
with her become

that out-of-touch with reality,
it was an entirely different

level of concerning.

It's our first sense that
she has the power in his mind.

Ugh!

[Ember]
Control your anger.

[Randy]
I shouldn't have done it!

[Ember] Look, you had to.
It was the only way.

She is calling the shots.

She is telling him what to do,
and he's listening.

Then Randy says something
to Ember that I find

really important.

You know, sometimes I feel
like I should just end it all.

He says, "The only way I think
I can be happy is if I could

just die and come back
as a ghost like you."

Maybe I'd be a lot happier
like you.

[Dr. Toles]
We are hearing this lore

that Randy is starting to build,

that, if Randy
takes his own life,

he will join Ember
in the afterlife.

I'm ready.

[Ember]
Are you sure?

-Everyone goes someday.
-[g*n shot blasts]

[Sammy]
Him k*lling himself.

That was just something that
Randy had never shown before.

He was going down
a darker path mentally.

And he showed no signs of sort
of digging himself

out of this hole.

So it became an intervention
with all of us trying to say

how concerning watching
that video was.

Unfortunately, that didn't go
over well with him.

He ended up blocking
all of us after that.

[Dr. Toles] So he's now alone,
thinking about death,

being around Ember,
just sitting with his thoughts,

and that, I think,
was the tipping point.

I don't even think
there's human words

to describe
how scared we were for him.

Once everyone
in The Bubble was blocked,

that was about it.

If he was gonna get better,
it had to be on his own terms.

[Dr. Toles]
Randy announces that he's
pretty much done with YouTube.

[Randy] I feel like I've done
my part for YouTube,

and there's nothing more for me
to do for a YouTube channel.

He's come to the conclusion

that it's not gonna work out
for him.

He's not gonna be
a big influencer.

I'm sick of putting so much
work into videos and not...

getting anywhere with it.
And, uh...

it's just not fun anymore.

[Kyle]
YouTube wasn't really filling

that void inside
of Randy anymore.

What was filling the void was
his obsession with Ember

and the world he was building
around her.

He realizes, you know,
Ember is taking over his world,

so even though Randy has said
that he is basically done

with YouTube, he still had
urges to make more content.

From this day forth,
I will be associating myself

with EGS Productions.

[Dr. Toles]
E. G. S.

Ember's Ghost Squad.

Which is where the cast
of ghost characters start

to emerge.

[Kyle] On this new channel,
Randy's content was now

fully animated.
He was hiring voice actors.

Sydney, do you even know what
your purpose is in this squad?

To live in peace and harmony
for all eternity.

But Randy's ghost girl
characters were all essentially

Ember with slightly different
clothes or hair colors,

to the point where Randy's
audience couldn't even

tell them apart.

Someone dies,
everyone goes ape,

and then, bam! Bam! Bam!
-[machine g*n noises]

g*ns!
Explosions! Ah!

It was like
his own little digital universe.

He even designed
and printed out stickers.

And Victoria actually received
one of these stickers

that he put on her vehicle
without her consent at the time.

And then afterwards,
she kind of liked the sticker

'cause it was
an interesting character.

[Randy]
This close to my baby.

Well, Ember was my baby.

She's not my baby anymore.
She's my queen.

Mackenzie's my baby.

♪ Mackenzie, baby ♪

[Billy] But after a while,
he started talking

like they were real.

And that really made
people uncomfortable.

I'm this close to my baby.
I'm this close.

I can't get any --
I almost can't get any closer.

[Kyle]
While most people would have
thought that Randy was simply

building a world
for the cartoon characters

in this animated series,
the truth was that Randy was

more constructing a fantasy
for himself to live in.

It turns out
that the Ember-looking character

is actually Randy.

He believed that he could only
become his truest self

by becoming a female ghost
and joining them

in their universe.

[Randy's voice]
Welcome to our world.

[Dr. Toles] The more he creates,
the more his sense

about what's real and what's not
gets very convoluted.

[Randy]
There are people out there

that don't see it like some
of us do.

People see us
as mentally ill, screwballs,

creeps, psychopaths.

[Dr. Toles] He's trying
to convince the audience,

"I know this sounds out there,
and it might sound

a little crazy,
but this is reality."

[Randy]
I've been seeing someone,
and she's helped me see things

that I was never able
to see before.

"These characters do exist,

and they're all waiting for me
in the afterlife."

[Randy] I've finally discovered
who I truly am.

[dramatic chord strikes]

[Sammy]
He tweeted out something at me,

and it was just, it was so wild

because it was just
so out of the blue.

And it was like,
"Hey, Sammy, when you quit

"being a stuck-up,
manipulative,

"attention-seeking something,

give me a call."

-[g*n shot]
-[siren wailing]

Once he had tweeted that,
a whole w*r had broken out.

I definitely remember Haley
coming to my defense.

Thomas got involved, too.

Sometime after
that huge fight happened,

Randy had created a video
and released it online.

I wasn't keeping up with
his YouTube channel anymore,

but I guess Thomas was
because he sent it to me.

-[static noise]
-[voices overlapping]

This is what I want.

And then once I actually,
I guess,

sat down and watched it...

[Randy] You're gonna pay
for what you did to me.

Mark my words.

...that was when I realized
how serious it was.

While this video
was portrayed as fictional,

it also contained details
that only Sammy

and everyone
else in the group

immediately realized
was about her.

[Randy] You were once
a sweet little girl in my eyes.

But that was very short-lived.

I didn't even know what he was
upset at me about.

[Randy] You're gonna rot
from the inside out,

you attention-seeking
piece of --

It was hard to sit there
and watch him talking

in gruesome detail about how
he would, like, k*ll me.

[Randy] I'm gonna claw
at your pathetic face

with your own nails
to the point where you'll be

completely beyond
facial recognition!

The most unsettling part
of the video is

this girl that he has, uh,
like, drawn in there.

She looks exactly like me.

At the end of the video,

it's Randy
as his Ember ghost self,

holding what is supposed to be
my decapitated head.

[Randy]
But as I've said,

"I always keep my promises."

[maniacal laughter]

[Sammy]
That was the end
of any and all communication

between The Bubble and Randy.

[Kyle]
Ending these friendships had
only led Randy to being

more isolated and to dive deeper

and deeper into his obsession
with Ember.

Ever since I first saw her,
something changed.

It was like a spark.

So there's isolation,
fantasy, then a fascination

with owning g*ns.

Few days ago,

I got my baby,
and I cannot wait to use it.

I now have two!

Two pump-action

Look at this!

There's 250 [bleep] shells!

[Dr. Toles]
Now he's got two g*ns.

He names one of them Mackenzie
and one of them Rachel.

After his two ghosts
that he created

in his ghost squad.

How about it?

Mwah!
Mwah!

Mackenzie, Rachel.

Not long after, Randy uploads

this video of himself
in target practice.

We're gonna put a slug
through this [bleep] right here.

Wow!

[Billy]
That video was posted on
Randy's YouTube, May of 2017.

When we saw that video,

after seeing the disturbing
content in his other videos,

some of us felt like it was
a bad combination.

Concerns were brought
to the attention

of the supervisors,

but they said,
"It doesn't involve the store."

So there wasn't much he could
do about it.

It's just Randy.
That's what he does.

Take it with a grain of salt.

I think he figured out

that we were
watching his videos.

People didn't like him.

He just got
quieter and quieter.

At one point, he wouldn't even
answer questions.

He would just ignore you.

[Kyle]
Randy had grown more resolute
over time in ending

his own life.

[Randy] I'm tired of breathing.

I'm tired of

going to a dead-end job.

He started recording
a lot of videos

that he knew he couldn't release
or risk jeopardizing his plans.

I thought
about hanging myself.

Cutting myself.

Fire was also
another alternative.

[Kyle] So he didn't upload them
to YouTube.

A lot of people will say
things like,

"Well, you guys saw
the writing on the wall.

It's obvious."

But his parents
couldn't have known.

Anyway, I hit record.

I didn't mean to,
but here I am.

[Dr. Toles] Randy kept a lot
of things from people.

The fact that Randy
didn't make it

as a YouTube star,

his level of depression
was so deep

that the world feels
like a burning building

with two options,

leap out the window
or perish in the flames.

I didn't wanna get a job.

I didn't wanna get a career.

I just didn't wanna have
anything to do

with this [bleep] world anymore.

And all I cared about was Ember.

[Dr. Toles]
He had become fully convinced
that Ember was real,

Mackenzie was real,
Rachel was real.

He's imagining his afterlife.

"I get to live
with my ghost squad,

and I am finally happy."

[Randy]
Mackenzie's my girl.

There isn't any other girl
I'd rather spend eternity with

than Mackenzie West, so...

So he was seriously planning
to commit suicide at home.

I felt trapped.

I had to be dead in order
to do it.

That's my destiny.

But that isn't where it ended
for Randy.

You believe in fate?

Here's the fate test.

Unfortunately, he goes
from simply wanting to end

his own life...

If it's heads,
I'll do it here.

...to wanting to end
his own life

along with the lives of others.

If it's tails...

[Kyle]
So Randy decided that

with a coin flip, best of five.

[Dr. Toles]
So he flips it...

[Randy]
That's a tails.

See that?

[Dr. Toles]
Flips it again.

[Randy]
That's a heads.

Flips it a third time.

That was a high one.
It's a tails!

He believes that it's actually
the ghosts that are

manipulating how the coin
is landing.

Number four.

Way up there.

Heads.
Had to be, huh?

And however the coin lands
is what he's supposed to do.

I flip this next coin
and it lands on tails,

there's gonna be
devastation and destruction.

One...
[imitates g*n shot]

Two...

-Three!
-[g*n shot blasts]

[ominous tones playing]

On the evening of June 7th,
Randy Stair showed up for work

at about quarter of 11.

His normal routine is

he'll lock the door
at 11 o'clock

because the store
is now closed.

[Kyle]
Randy then took a short break
and went out to his car

where he uploaded
three different series of files,

an archive of all the work
he had ever made,

his handwritten journals...

...in a series of videos
he called "The Suicide Tapes."

In terms
of how this is gonna go down,

Let me tell ya.

Wednesday, June 7th, 2017,
here's the plan.

As well as goodbye messages
to his friends,

his family, and his followers.

I can guarantee you that none
of you saw this coming.

None of you would ever
remotely expect me to do

something like this.

Right before Randy went
into the store after his break,

he blocked the emergency exit

on the front of the building
with his car.

And then once he got
in the store,

he immediately began
taking pallets,

loading the pallets
on pallet jacks,

and blocking the exits.

At that point, Randy starts
Facebooking live.

His intention was

anybody in that store working
that night, Victoria Brong,

Brian Hayes, Kristen Newell,
and Terry Lee Sterling,

were gonna die
before he took his own life.

He walked into the store
with both of his shotguns,

and he confronts
Victoria and Kristen

in aisle 16.

[Billy]
When I woke up, I realized
Victoria hadn't come home.

It was 6 o'clock
in the morning,

and she was supposed
to be at home at 1 o'clock.

I tried calling her cell phone.
It didn't even ring.

It just went straight
to voicemail.

And I knew then something
was definitely wrong.

So I dropped our son off
at her mother's house,

and I drove myself
to the grocery store.

[sirens wailing]

[Billy] All that I could see was
just lights and cruisers

and uniforms and badges.

I figured something bad had
happened,

but it was, uh, a lot worse
than I thought it was gonna be.

Victoria was listening
to her music on her cell phone

with her headset in.

From what I was told Victoria
never even see him coming,

never felt a thing,
he shot her five times.

[sniffles]

[exhales sharply]

[Billy]
He pointed the g*n at Kristen,
and he then put it down

and walked away.
And let her live.

I heard a couple
of popping sounds,

sort of like a balloon,

and then a thud.

So I turned to where Victoria
was in the aisle

to ask her if she had heard it.

And when I had turned,

I saw Randy at the end
of the aisle with his g*n,

and I had saw Victoria
on the ground.

The big mystery
for a lot of people,

and I'm sure
for Kristen herself,

is Randy walking up behind her,

pausing and then
not pulling the trigger?

Was it possibly a ghost
in his mind saying,

"Spare this one?"

The only thing I could think of
is I think he decided

at one point he was either
gonna be famous or infamous,

one way or the other.

So he wants somebody to tell
the story about it,

to have to experience it
and suffer it

every time she closes her eyes.

Her life was saved
that night,

whether it
be divine intervention

or possibly
we learned from Kristen

that Terry Lee Sterling may have
misdirected Randy's attention,

allowing Kristen to now run
down the aisle

and try to escape.

As she's hiding, she sees
that now Terry Lee is lying

motionless on the floor.
He had been shot.

Kristen is hiding behind
one of the checkout counters,

and it appears that Randy's
looking for her.

She doesn't hear
any other screams.

So at this point, very likely
that Brian Hayes was probably

also deceased.

Brian Hayes was the manager

that worked the night shift
with Randy.

He was 47 years old

and Brian's wife also worked
at the store.

Brian would work nights.

His wife would work
during the day.

That way, at all times,

somebody could be home
with their daughter.

Randy's walking around
just sh**ting up the store.

The entire store was
completely destroyed.

But as he went
through the store,

Kristen is able to get out
the front door,

hide in the bushes,
and dial 911.

And when Kristen escaped,
he yells,

"You lucky b*stard!"

He places his cell phone,
takes it from his pocket,

places it on top
of some canned goods,

he looks at the camera
of his phone, and he says,

"I'm coming, Mackenzie."

And then he takes his own life.

Just like that.
And it's over.

And then I'm...

where I belong.

[soft piano music playing]

[phone buzzing]

[Sammy]
I was...

sitting in my high
school Spanish class.

I got a text from Haley,

and for the next
few days after that,

my whole life
revolved around Randy again.

And this new

tragedy that he caused,
I really wasn't surprised

that he had k*lled himself.

It was that he went on to k*ll
other people that really

changed things for me.

[Billy]
Terry Sterling, I had never
once seen him in a bad mood.

The guy would have gave
you the shirt right off

his back, and he wouldn't even
have to know your name.

He was a straight-up
awesome dude.

I was there for Brian's funeral,
for his wife and his daughter.

I still talk to her on occasion

and make sure they're doing
all right,

and she does the same for me.

I still communicate
with Kristen,

and she's --
[sighs]

been struggling with how
everything happened.

Being the only survivor has
definitely taken a toll on her.

On the night
everything happened,

Victoria wasn't even
scheduled to work.

It was supposed to be
our shared night off,

but she was trying to get
a promotion at the time,

so she went in to cover
the shift anyways.

I had actually tried
to convince her to just call off

and stay home so we could take
our son to go see a movie

or go to the park.

But she said,
"Well, we can just do that

in the morning when I get home."

My son and I woke up
the next day, and...

our lives were changed forever,
never to be the same.

How did something like this
happen to such nice people?

I just didn't understand it.
I still don't.

People lost friends, daughters,

fathers, their children,
their grandparents.

I sat with my son and had
to explain to him that his mom

wasn't gonna come home.

[voice trembles]
That was hard.

Ugh.

[Sammy] I just couldn't help
but feel guilty.

Like I've just not done enough

to report him
to the right people,

or I hadn't done enough
to push him to get help.

But even given
some of his past videos,

we never thought
that he was even capable

of taking another person's life.

I guess he felt that if YouTube
wasn't gonna be

what got him famous,

this other path would.

But I don't want him
to win anymore.

It's not fair to the victims

and their families
that are still living.

There are people who were
affected by this incident

that are still alive and deserve

a million and one more things
than Randy ever did.

If somebody would have just
listened to the concerns

that were raised about him,
if his mental illness was taken

more seriously,
his family would still have him

as well as we would still have
our family members.

More than anything, just, uh,

enjoy life with your loved ones
while you have it,

'cause you never know when
it's gonna be gone.

Yeah.

Hello.

April wanted the fantasy of
having crazy followers.

Choose to have positive
thoughts.

Your life will change.

[beeping]

My mama gut was like,
"Something's not right."

I'm her mom,
and I'm going to get justice.