Elliot Rodger’s parents, Peter and Chin Rodger, tell CNN that “The feeling of knowing that it was our son’s actions that caused the tragedy can only be described as hell on Earth.”
On Thursday, Peter Rodger and Chin Rodger, the parents of Elliot Rodger, the serial killer that killed several people at the University of California, Santa Barbara, released their first statement since Friday’s shooting, describing their life as “hell earth”.
“We are crying out in pain for the victims and their families. It breaks our hearts on a level that we didn’t think was possible,” they said in a statement read on CNN by family friend Simon Astaire. “The feeling of knowing that it was our son’s actions that caused this tragedy can only be described as hell on earth.”
Family friend Simon Astaire also told CNN about her relationship with Elliot Rodger.
In one brief conversation, Rodger asked Astaire — a novelist — if writing was a lonely experience.
Astaire described the process as “solitary,” and Rodger replied with “I know what you mean,” and turned away.
“As soon as you met him, he was unbearably reserved, self-contained, he seemed to merge into the walls,” he told CNN. “He seemed the loneliest person in the world,” Astaire said.
Among Elliot Rodger’s victims were Rodger’s three roommates — Cheng Yuan Hong, 20; George Chen, 19; and Weihan “David” Wang, 20. Each was stabbed to death.
But Elliot Rodger continued from there, he then embarked on a shooting rampage Friday night, killing two young women — Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19, both members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.
He then went into a deli and killed UCSB junior Christopher Martinez, 20, who was getting a sandwich.
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