The parents of UC Santa Barbara gunman Elliot Rodger have spoken out for the first time since last Friday’s killing spree, which left seven people, including their son, dead. “We are crying in pain for the victims and their families. It breaks our hearts on a level that we didn’t think possible,” said Peter and Chin Rodger in a statement read by their friend, Simon Astaire, on Thursday’s Today broadcast. “The feeling of knowing that it was our son’s actions that caused the tragedy can only be described as hell on earth.” Astaire added that the former couple, who had long tried to help Rodger through therapy and raced toward Isla Vista in an attempt to stop him from carrying out his plan, have “diminished” in the aftermath of the tragedy. “They have gone down in size,” he said. “They’re virtually unrecognizable.”
