Bruins hold candlelight vigil in support of UCSB community

Stillness permeated Royce Quad on Monday evening as hundreds of students and University of California community members illuminated the area with candles to honor those affected by a recent slayings in Isla Vista.

On Friday evening, Santa Barbara City College student Elliot Rodger drove through the residential streets of Isla Vista, close to the UC Santa Barbara campus, killing six people and wounding 13 others across the town, officials said.

In response to the tragedy, a vigil was held at UCSB Saturday, inspiring Oscar Peña, a first-year art student, and Ian Cocroft, a second-year political science student, to organize a vigil at UCLA.

“I think people need a space to come together to get an emotional healing,” Peña said.

Both Cocroft and Peña said they have many close friends in Santa Barbara, which made the shootings feel close to home.

“I want to recognize my friends and let them know that the community of UC campuses are there for them,” Cocroft said. “We’re here to support them in any way they need.”

The vigil at Royce Quad began with Peña thanking the community for coming to the service. The speakers included Ellen Lester, the president of the UCLA Delta Delta Delta chapter, and Elizabeth Matusov, a second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student and friend of Veronika Weiss, one of the students killed in Santa Barbara.

Those who came to the vigil then rose and began to light their candles, and then lighting the candles of those next to them. As the lights spread through the crowd, an a cappella rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow” rang from Royce Hall.

Once the song was over, organizers recited the names of the victims, and a moment of silence followed. Attendees lowered their heads and embraced one another.

Karina Rueda, a second-year global studies student at UCSB, came to the vigil with her friend Andrea Castro, a second-year sociology student at UCSB, to stand in solidarity with other UC students in remembering those who were killed in the incident, Rueda said.

“It’s just hard, because you don’t expect this to happen to your school, to your community,” Rueda said.

Rueda was with her friend in an apartment in Isla Vista when she heard gunshots being fired, which she said she thought were fireworks at the time.

Following the gunshots, Rodger drove through the street in front of the apartment and was chased by many police cars. He eventually crashed his car after a shootout with the police and was found dead from a gunshot to the head. The injury is believed to be self-inflicted, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

During the incident, one of Cocroft’s friends, Kylie Castle, a first-year student at UCSB, was at Embarcadero Hall for an improvisation comedy show. Embarcadero Hall is three blocks away from the Alpha Phi sorority house, where Rodger killed two students and injured one.

Castle said the building was locked down for nearly two hours.

“It’s so crazy to think that we were so close. There was one person who left the show early and got shot,” she said. “It could’ve been us too.”

Castle’s friend Savanna Gonzalez, a first-year student at UCSB, also attended the show and the Saturday vigil service. Gonzalez shared the same art class with Veronika Weiss, one of the victims killed Friday.

“I think it’s a great thing … for UCLA to come together and show love and support,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not just affecting us. It’s affecting a lot of people.”

As the night drew to a close, organizers opened up the microphone for those who felt compelled to speak. Speakers included students, parents and alumni.

A UCSB student came up to read a letter she wrote to Christopher Michaels-Martinez, one of the students who was killed. Michaels-Martinez had planned to study abroad in England for a year in the same program as the speaker.

“This whole time, I felt that I did not have a true purpose for going abroad, but I now know that purpose will be you,” she said. “Every person I meet, place I see and things I learn, I dedicate to you.”

Vigil services are being held on other UC campuses, including San Diego, Santa Cruz, Irvine, Riverside and Davis throughout the week.