University of California System Engaging in 'Week of Solidarity' in Wake of Santa Barbara Drive-By Shooting
ByDays after the drive-by shooting near the University of California - Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus, the entire school system has banded together to show support.
According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators are still in the process of polishing off the details to the attack and they have already confirmed Elliot Rodger, 22, as the shooter. Meanwhile, thousands of students at UCLA and UC - San Diego RSVP'd to candlelight vigils to honor the six people killed in Isla Vista, near the UCSB campus.
Students across the UC school system have deemed this week the "Week of Solidarity" and UC Irvine and Riverside have vigils planned with a similar expected turnout. UCSB announced classes will be cancelled Tuesday, but faculty members will be on campus to offer support and counseling.
CNN reported three of Rodger's victims were his roommates, who were stabbed to death in their apartment. Rodger also left behind a 137-page manifesto that detailed his plan, motives and more.
Simon Astaire, a family friend, said Rodger, a former Santa Barbara City College student, had been seeing therapists since he was eight years old. During high school, Astaire said Rodger was seeing a therapist "pretty much every day."
He sent the manifesto to 12 people, including his parents, before carrying out the shooting. His parents saw the document, then saw his YouTube video, before leaving Los Angeles for Isla Vista to find their son. Along the way, they heard of a shooting near UCSB and later found their son was the shooter.
According to his manifesto, he was extremely bitter towards women because he believed "All of those beautiful girls I've desired so much in my life, but can never have... despise and loathe me." He showed up at a UCSB sorority house and knocked on the door. After not gaining entry, he shot and killed two women standing outside before driving away. From his BMW he shot and killed another victim at a nearby deli.
BELOW: a list of Rodger's victims.
George Chen, 19, Cheng Yuan Hong, 20, and Weihan Wang, 20.
Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19. "Katie will be remembered for her generous spirit and warm heart. Veronika will be remembered for her vibrant personality and enthusiasm for life," Delta Delta Delta president Phyllis Durbin Grissom wrote on the sorority's website.
Christopher Martinez, 20. "Chris was just an amazing guy," Jeff Dolphin, Martinez's freshman-year roommate, told the Los Angeles Times. "If I was going through something, he was always there for me. If I needed something, he was there. If I needed a textbook, if I was locked out of the room because I forgot my key, he would stop playing basketball or doing what he was doing to unlock the door so I didn't have to get charged.
"He was just a great guy."
BBC News reported YouTube has removed Rodger's "Retribution" video for violating the website's guidelines. Pieces of it can be seen in this ABC News report, but be warned of the potentially disturbing content.