Fathers of Isla Vista rampage victim, killer pledge to work together

The fathers of an Isla Vista rampage victim and the dead killer have pledged to work together to prevent similar tragedies.

The men, Peter Rodger and Richard Martinez, met privately Sunday at a coffee shop in Santa Barbara, according to KEYT-TV.

“I have met with Peter Rodger and we plan to work together so other families such as ours will not suffer as ours have,” Martinez told the station, although he did not elaborate on what the work would entail.

On May 23, Rodger’s 22-year-old son, Elliot, went on a rampage in the seaside college town of Isla Vista that left six UC Santa Barbara students dead before killing himself. Thirteen others were wounded in the deadly melee.

In the days since, Martinez has been an outspoken critic of the nation’s gun laws. His son -- 20-year-old UCSB student Christopher Michaels-Martinez -- was the last one killed in the rampage. He was shot inside the I.V. Deli Mart convenience store.

Elliot Rodger legally purchased three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities who checked on Rodger’s welfare weeks before the rampage did not check state records to see if he owned a gun, nor did they watch disturbing online videos that prompted the welfare check call from family members in the first place.

Shortly before the rampage, Elliot Rodger posted a final video on YouTube in which he said that he was lonely because “girls have never been attracted to me” and vowed “retribution” and “slaughter.”

His parents released a statement last week saying that it had been “hell on earth” knowing their son’s actions led to tragedy.

“We are crying out in pain for the victims and their families. It breaks our hearts on a level that we didn’t think was possible,” Peter and Chin Rodger said in the statement. “It is now our responsibility to do everything we can to help avoid this happening to any other family.”