Remembering the Victims of the Santa Barbara Rampage
— -- intro: Six young men and women were killed around the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara on May 24, when 22-year-old Elliot Rodger went on a violent spree. Father of Santa Barbara Shooter Elliot Rodger Meets With Victim's Dad Relatives, Friends Heartbroken Following Santa Barbara Rampage
In remembrance of those who passed away, here is a look at their lives.
quicklist:1title:Veronika Weisstext:As a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, Veronika Weiss was a math whiz who played four different sports in high school.
Weiss was a freshman from Westlake Village, California, and described as wise beyond her 19 years.
"She was a strong girl, you know. She always wanted to make her own decisions," Weiss' brother Cooper Weiss said. "She was very independent."media:24303402
quicklist:2title:George Chentext:A junior at University of California, Santa Barbara, George Chen, 19, was visiting his friends David Wang and James Cheng-yuan Hong when he was killed.
"I just don't know why this happened to our son. I just, it's crazy this just doesn't make any sense," Chen's mother Kelly Wang said. "We, we, would die a hundred times, a thousand times. But we don't want our kids get hurt."media:24303320
quicklist:3title:James Cheng-yuan Hongtext:James Cheng-yuan Hong was 20 years old and lived in the apartment with George Chen.
Lara Lewis lived in the same housing area as Hong during his freshman year.
"Instant tears upon hearing about the loss of James Cheng-yuan Hong," she wrote online. "Please pray for his family."media:24313576
quicklist:4title:David Wangtext: Twenty-year-old David Wang, who also went by the name Weihan Wang, had dreams of one day starting a computer business with his friends Chen and Hong.media:24313664
quicklist:5title:Katherine Breann Coopertext:Twenty-two-year-old Katherine Breann Cooper was preparing to graduate with a degree in art history at UCSB, when she was gunned down while with a group of students that included her Delta Delta Delta sorority sister, Veronika Weiss.
Cooper was hoping to become a museum curator and was known by all for her generous spirit. Her friend Courtney Benjamin said Cooper was a painter with an outgoing side.
"She was a self-proclaimed princess and I love her for that," Benjamin said. "And I know she has a crown on her head today."media:
quicklist:6title:Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez text:Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, 20, was shot while entering a deli to buy a sandwich.
"He was quiet, kind, humble, graceful, funny," Michaels-Martinez's father Richard Martinez told ABC News about his son. "And at the same time, one of the most competitive people you would ever meet, and he was a fierce competitor, both in sports and academics."
An only child, Michaels-Martinez had plans to study abroad and attend law school.
Since Michaels-Martinez's passing, his father is now focused on a campaign to bring about what he calls, "common sense laws," to reduce gun violence.
"It's about moving forward from this time and place and making it different," Martinez said. "No parent should have to go through this. And no child should have to die like this."media:24303228
