All six victims in the Isla Vista slayings were UC Santa Barbara students, sheriff’s officials confirmed Sunday as they identified the three men who were found dead inside the suspect’s apartment.
The three men were identified as 19-year-old George Chen of San Jose, 20-year-old C.H., also of San Jose, and 20-year-old Weihan Wang of Fremont.
Chen and C.H. were listed as tenants on the lease for the apartment with suspected gunman Elliot Rodger, officials said. Investigators were working to determine whether Wang was living at the home or visiting.
Henry Yang, the university's chancellor, said in a statement that Chen and Wang were both juniors at the college of engineering. He offered no details on C.H., citing the family's request for privacy.
"Our sense of loss is immeasurable," the chancellor said. "We are offering our full support to their families, and our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The three other students who were slain were identified Saturday as Veronika Elizabeth Weiss, 19, of Westlake Village, Katherine Breann Cooper, 22, of Chino Hills, and Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, 20, of Los Osos.
Yang said Weiss was a sophomore, Cooper was a senior and Michaels-Martinez was a junior.
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Yang also said that nine of 13 people who were taken to the hospital after the rampage were UCSB students. Six of the nine were released from the hospital, he said.
Increased police patrols were ordered in Isla Vista and on campus, with the support of the UCLA and UC Irvine police departments, Yang said.
A memorial fund was set up to honor the students who lost their lives, Yang said. Contributions can be made here.
Yang declared Tuesday a "Day of Mourning and Reflection." A 4 p.m. memorial service was set to be held at Harder Stadium.
“You heart aches for the families who are all the sudden thrust into a situation like this,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. “It’s just particularly disturbing because of the fact that these young victims were taken in the prime of their lives.”
Rodger, 22, allegedly plowed through Isla Vista streets on Friday while shooting at nighttime crowds. Seven people, including Rodger, were killed in the rampage.
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“There was no stopping him,” said Rodger’s neighbor, who did not want to be identified. “He was a very, very troubled kid. He was going to go through with it.”
Prior to the shooting, Rodger had posted videos to Youtube promising “retribution” and “revenge against humanity.” Family members were aware of the videos and alerted authorities, but after a mental health check less than a month before the rampage, they determined that he didn’t pose a threat.
“This has been the most significant single crime that I’ve ever been connected with in any fashion,” Brown said. “It was just a senseless and tragic rampage.”
Brown said during a press conference Saturday afternoon that investigators found three handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition inside Rodger's BMW following the rampage.
The mass killing comes about 13 years after a former UC Santa Barbara student drove his car through a crowd of people in Isla Vista, killing four. David Attias was convicted on four counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to a state mental hospital.
