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2 Women Killed In UCSB Shooting Rampage Had SoCal Connections

CHINO HILLS and WESTLAKE VILLAGE (CBSLA.com) — Two of the women killed in Friday's shooting rampage in Isla Vista hailed from the Los Angeles area.

They were among six people killed by 22-year-old Elliot Rodger near the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Westlake Village native Veronika Weiss, 19, and Chino Hills native Katherine "Katy" Cooper, 22, were standing near their sorority house when Elliot Rodger began knocking on the door. When he couldn't get inside, he shot the victims.

Both girls attended UC Santa Barbara.

Friends shared memories of the victims with CBS2/KCAL9 and say they're still in shock.

Cooper was remembered as a kind person and a motivated athlete.

"I was shocked. I was very, very shocked. She was a sweet, kind and humble person. She was accepting of a lot of people," Cooper's high school friend Brandon Andre said.

Weiss attended Westlake High School and was a member of the water polo team. People say she was quick to make friends.

"It's horrifying that someone could even possibly do that," Weiss' friend Connor Wolff said. "The community has just been mourning for her and we're really sorry about it. It was just awful to hear about it, and the video of the [shooting suspect] was disgusting."

"She's very sweet. She was always smiling and outgoing, and just had a really good friend base. She was very intelligent," friend Darya Hariri said.

"She always had a really infectious laugh, it was a deep laugh, and she just made everyone around her smile. That was the one thing I really remember about her," friend Holly Cronin said.

Weiss' water polo coach, Farhad Ghami, said there will be a candlelight vigil for her beginning at 8 p.m. Monday at the school's swimming pool.

Flowers were left at her parent's Westlake Village home.

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