Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski
GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities identified the three men found fatally stabbed in the California apartment of Elliot Rodger, who police say fatally shot three others in a killing spree that ended with his suicide.
The Santa Barbara sheriff's office said Sunday that the victims were 20-year-old Cheng Yuan Hong and 19-year-old George Chen — both from San Jose — and 20-year-old Weihan Wang of Fremont.
The three UC Santa Barbara students were the first killed in Friday night's rampage.
People gather at a park for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of Friday night's mass shooting on Saturday, May 24, 2014, in Isla Vista, Calif. (Image source: AP/Jae C. Hong)
Hong and Chen are listed on the lease as Rodger's roommates. Investigators were trying to determine whether Wang was also a roommate or was visiting the night of the killings.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said Hong was involved in a case involving stolen candles, reported KSBY-TV in San Luis Obispo. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office noted the case at a Saturday press conference, adding that Rodger had contacted the sheriffs and reported his roommate had stolen his candles.
Hong was charged with petty theft; Dudley said he pleaded guilty, KSBY reported.
