GOLETA, Calif. — Students returned to classes Wednesday at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after the weekend rampage that left six students and their assailant dead and 13 others injured in nearby Isla Vista.
Some people were eager to resume academic routines in the closing days of the quarter. Others still struggled to cope with the tragedy.
“It’s kind of a relief to get back together with other people, and to see what the professors have to say,” said Kelly Frances Dilnessa, 23, of Oroville. “Sometimes you’re walking down the street and you feel like giving everybody a hug.”
Some students yelled at reporters to go home or cursed them, but many politely declined to speak as they rushed to class after the holiday weekend and Tuesday’s suspension of classes for a memorial observance.
Three students were stabbed to death, three were fatally shot, and 13 others were wounded Friday night in the attack by Elliot Rodger, 22, a community college student who had posted an Internet video outlining his plan to slaughter as many people as possible.
Rodger had legally obtained three semi-automatic handguns and still had 400 unspent rounds of ammunition when he shot himself to death, authorities said.
Sharon Tam, a sociology major from El Monte, said it was a depressing situation.
