The victims of Elliot Rodger, the British-born shooter whose rampage was fueled by the disappointment of having been rejected by women, have been identified. Four of the victims were males in their late teens and early 20's while two were female aged 19 and 22.
After the indiscriminate drive-by shooting that occurred through the streets of Isla Vista, three bodies were found in an apartment believed to have been rented by Elliot Rodger, 22, and two of his UCSB colleagues. All three victims bore multiple stab wounds and were believed to have been killed prior to the mass drive-by shooting.
The first two victims in the attack were roommates George Chen, 19, and Cheng Yuan Hong, 20, both from San Jose, California. On January 15 this year, Hong was reported by Rodger to authorities for having had stolen his candles amounting to $22. Rodger made a citizen's arrest and Hong was booked for petty theft. The third stabbing victim was Weihan Wong, 20, of Fremont, California.
Authorities confirm that two of the three stabbing victims were Rodger's roommates while the background of the third remains unclear.
The fourth male victim identified in the attack was 20-year old Christopher Michael-Martinez. He had been shot while inside a deli store. Also a UCSB student, Michael-Martinez was an English major in his sophomore year and had plans of studying in London in his junior year, according to friends.
Leslie O'Connor, the principal of San Luis Obispo High School which Michael-Martinez last attended, thought of him as "an engaging, happy guy who had a bright future."
It is believed that Elliot Rodger began his rampage as a revenge against women.
Before the shootings, Rodger released videos on Youtube where he explained his disappointment for having been rejected repeatedly and for not having had a girlfriend at 22.
Two of the six victims in Friday's attack were 22 year-old Katherine Cooper and 19 year-old Veronika Weiss. Cooper, a Chino Hills native, was a senior at UCSB and was pursuing a degree in art history and archaeology. The younger female, Weiss, hailed from Thousand Oaks, California and was only in her freshman year when she was gunned down.
According to her father, Veronika was doing well in college. "She was making straight As. She was making friends. She was studying like a maniac and loving every minute of it," says Bob Weiss.
Meanwhile, thirteen individuals have been confirmed injured as a direct result of the attack. They have not been identified and their status, as of this reporting, is not confirmed.
