Fathers of the UCSB Shooter and One of His Victims Meet Privately

Peter Rodger, father of UCSB shooter Elliot Rodger, and Richard Martinez, father of a 20-year-old victim, recently met privately. Martinez confirmed the meeting, but wouldn’t say what they’d discussed.

Martinez, whose son Christopher Michaels-Martinez was killed in Isla Vista, told a CNN affiliate that, “I have met with Peter Rodger and we plan to work together so other families such as ours will not suffer as ours have,” adding that, “This was a private conversation between grieving fathers who’ve reached common ground.”

The meeting was closed to the media, and Martinez didn’t share any more information.

In the wake of the shooting, Martinez has loudly expressed his fury about the state of gun laws on America. “My kid died because nobody responded to what occurred at Sandy Hook,” he told CNN in an emotional interview. And it does seem pretty fucking shocking that Rodgers could acquire and hang onto those guns, considering this New York Times piece about just how many people had expressed concerns about his mental state.

In advance of the meeting, Martinez told the New York Daily News, “If I can meet and find common ground with (dad Peter Rodger), why the f—- can’t the Democrats and Republicans in Congress do the same?”