Santa Barbara Victims: Two Sorority Sisters, an Aspiring Lawyer

By Howard Breuer and Melody Chiu

05/25/2014 at 02:25 PM EDT

Courtesy Bree Casas/Facebook

The idyllic town of Isla Vista was rocked when a man went on a killing spree, stabbing three men in his apartment complex, then fatally shooting three university students as he drove around in a BMW.

The shooting victims – Veronika Weiss, Katie Cooper and Christopher Martinez – were remembered Saturday evening at an on-campus vigil that drew more than 1,000 members of the tight-knit University of California, Santa Barbara, community. (The stabbing victims still have not been identified). Here's a closer look at three of the lives cut short by Elliot Rodger, 22.

Katie Cooper, 22

The senior, who grew up in Chino Hills, California, was weeks away from graduating with a degree in art history and archaeology. According to her Facebook page, the outgoing student – who was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority – loved to dance and participated in various dance clubs on-campus including cotillion, salsa and ballroom. Cooper often painted seascapes and other images at the sorority house. "She loved to wear a cute dress and pearls and go out and have fun," her friend Letitia Mueller told PEOPLE.

Veronika Weiss, 19

According to friends, Weiss was a "sweet and friendly" freshman at the university, and was also a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She graduated from Westlake (California) High School last year and was a member of the girls' water polo team, the Thousand Oaks Acorn reports. "She was a kind-hearted person" who would never look down at anyone, her friend Effie Sklavenitis, who attended high school with Weiss, tells PEOPLE. "I'm just in shock. This was just a senseless tragedy by a horrible monster."

Christopher Martinez

Twitter

Christopher Martinez, 20

Martinez's father, Richard Martinez, spoke about his son's death at an emotional news conference Saturday. "Chris was a really great kid. Ask anyone who knew him," said Martinez. "His death has left our family lost and broken." NBC reports the English major planned to attend law school after graduation and was expected to finish college in three years with an impressive GPA. "We need to think not that he is gone, but that he was here," Martinez's friend Jeffrey Dolphin tells PEOPLE about his "very generous friend."

Candlelight Vigil May 24

Michael Nelson / EPA / Landov