A University of California, Santa Barbara sophomore who was in a local deli when shots rang out during Friday's rampage near the school says she tried to help one of the victims.
Alyssa Hopper, 19, can be seen ducking on surveillance video as gunfire erupts at the convenience store. Police said gunman Elliot Rodger opened fire there after he was unable to gain entry to a sorority house he allegedly targeted.
"It turned into absolute mayhem," Hooper told KNBC. She called 911 and rushed to help a fellow UCSB student who had been struck by gunfire.
She didn't realize at first that it was someone she knew.
"I was giving him CPR and I looked down and I recognized his face," Hooper told the station as she fought back tears. "He was the first person I met at freshman orientation."
The young man was fellow UCSB student Christopher Michaels-Martinez, 20, who later died of his wounds. He is one of six students at the school killed in the mass shooting, which the suspect in a chilling video said he planned as payback for a life of “loneliness, rejection, and unfulfilled desires.”
Police said the suspected killer blamed women for his troubles, and left a disturbing digital trail of videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people." Four of his victims, including Michaels-Martinez, were young men.
Michaels-Martinez was an English major who planned to go to London next year and to law school after graduation, his father, Richard Martinez, said at a Saturday press conference.
The grieving father delivered an emotional statement following the tragedy, in which he blamed "craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA" for his son's death.
"When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say, 'Stop this madness!' Too many have died," Martinez said. "We should say to ourselves, 'Not one more!'"
Michaels-Martinez and the other victims were remembered at a candlelight vigil attended by thousands Saturday.
Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact The Author