Candlelight Vigil Held to Remember Victims Year After Isla Vista Mass Murder

ISLA VISTA (CBSLA.com/AP) — Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the violent rampage that rocked the Isla Vista community and left six students dead.

Hundreds of UC Santa Barbara students, parents and locals held a candlelight vigil to remember the victims. Many of them held up blue lights in solidarity and listened as victims' parents took to the stage.

"And the light shines, the light of love," said Kelly Wang, whose son George Chen was among those killed. "I pray that there will be an end to the senseless killing."

The solemn gathering comes a year after Elliot Rodger, an emotionally troubled 22-year-old, set out on a deadly rampage in the college town. Police said he stabbed three people in his apartment before driving across Isla Vista, shooting randomly at people.

As police closed in, Rodger pointed one of his guns at his head and pulled the trigger. He died at the wheel of his car.

The parents of the slain students called for an end to gun violence.

Alex Martinez's nephew, Chris, was gunned down at a deli. He says he lives with constant reminders that an only child was stolen from his family: "Every time I forget about it, whether it's a few minutes or a few hours, remembering it again is almost like going through it again."

The UCSB Chancellor announced earlier in the day that the school is establishing six memorial scholarships, one for each of the victims.

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