Sheriff’s deputies say Elliot Rodger fatally stabbed 20-year-old James Cheng-Yuan Hong, 20-year-old
Sheriff’s deputies say Elliot Rodger fatally stabbed 20-year-old James Cheng-Yuan Hong, 20-year-old David Wang, and 19-year-old George Chen in an Isla Vista apartment before he went on a shooting rampage. All three were from the South Bay and were studying at UCSB.
Officials say Hong and Wang were roommates with Rodger and it was a tense living situation. Friends say that Wang planned to move out of the apartment at the end of the semester because he felt Rodger was strange. Investigators say Wang was one of the first victims that Rodger stabbed.
Chen and Hong were friends from San Jose. Chen received his diploma from Leland High School just two years ago.
Monday night, there was an emotional plea from Chen’s mother, Kelly Wang. She said, “This should not happen to any family, any family, this is just inhuman, it should not happen to any parents.”
Chen’s parents came down to Isla Vista along with the parents of Wang and Hong. They went to the scene of the crime to understand what happened.
When Chen’s father, Junan Chen, learned about the shootings on the news Friday night, he wasn’t too worried. He told ABC7 News, “I said, ‘OK, my son should be safe because he lives inside of the school, in the residence hall.'”
As it turns out, their son was hanging out with his two friends at their apartment at the Capri. All three were the first victims of Rodger’s.