Parents Upset in Handling of Stabbings

LOS ANGELES - The parents of the first three victims of Elliot O. Rodger's murderous rampage said they were frustrated by the authorities' handling of the case.

The bodies of James Hong, David Wang and George Chen were found inside a beachside apartment the night Mr. Rodger went on a killing spree near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, fatally shooting three people at random and injuring 13 others before taking his own life.

It was not clear how the slight Mr. Rodger, 22, was able to overpower the three, who were stabbed to death. He was randomly assigned to share the Isla Vista apartment with Mr. Hong and Mr. Wang. Mr. Chen was visiting the pair on May 23. The three victims had each moved from the Bay Area and were sons of Chinese immigrants.

In a joint interview, the parents told The Washington Post that they had visited the crime scene and had seen no blood on the walls or ceiling. The police had removed a 6-by-5-foot piece of carpeting in one bedroom, and a swath of vinyl flooring around the toilet had been cut out. They said the limited amount of material removed from the apartment suggested the killings had been confined to a small space.

They criticized the Santa Barbara County sheriff's department for not telling them how it believed the killings had been carried out, and said they were angered by public health and legal systems that they said valued the rights of the mentally ill, including Mr. Rodger, over those who may become their victims.

'The system is clearly broken,' said Mr. Hong's father, Henry Hong. 'It should have protected our sons, who were so innocent and trusting.'

A sheriff's spokeswoman, Kelly Hoover, said in a statement that the department 'owes it to the victims' families and to the public to not prematurely release information before we have all of the facts in this case.'

Sheriff Bill Brown has said the three men were stabbed repeatedly with sharp objects and called the crime scene 'pretty horrific.'