About 15,000 people are expected at a memorial service Tuesday evening during a "Day of Mourning and Reflection" at UC Santa Barbara after the deaths of six students killed in a violent rampage through the nearby seaside community of Isla Vista.
Classes will not be in session Tuesday at UCSB, where workers began setting up early as the sun rose over the campus on the Southern California coast. Faculty members and counselors will be on campus for students who want to talk about the tragedy that left seven people, including the gunman, dead.
Live Coverage: A live stream of the memorial will be provided at 4 p.m. PT
Those expected to speak at the 4 p.m. PT memorial in 17,000-seat Harder Stadium include the father of Christopher Michaels-Martinez, one of three victims shot and killed when a gunman in a black BMW opened fire at several locations in Isla Vista after fatally stabbing three people at his apartment.
Rampage in Isla Vista: Galleries, Timeline of Events
"My intention is to tell those young people who are alive that they should try to do the things that my son won't ever have a chance to do," Richard Martinez said as he tried to fight back tears.
For Michaels-Martinez, those plans included a junior year in London next year and law school after graduation. The 20-year-old from Los Osos was shot and killed Friday night when Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old Santa Barbara City College student, sprayed rounds into a crowd at the IV Deli Mart in Isla Vista.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, just hours after his son's death, Martinez held a childhood picture of his son in a youth baseball uniform. He decried access to guns and asked, "Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights, but what about Chris' right to live? When will this insanity stop?"
"I want something to change and I want my son's death to mean something," Richard Martinez, said Monday in an interview with NBC News.
Read: About the Victims
The shooting death of Michaels-Martinez followed the slayings of Veronika Weiss, 19, and Katherine Breann Cooper, 22, who were shot and killed outside their sorority house. Rodger fatally stabbed three men -- 20-year-old Weihan Wang, 20-year-old C.H., whose family requested he be identified only by the initials, and 19-year-old George Chen -- before driving through Isla Vista with three handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a rampage that ended in a shootout with Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies, investigators said.
Rodger, who outlined plans for what he called "retribution" in a lengthy manifesto and video posted on YouTube, died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, according to investigators.
Flowers, candles and handwritten notes have been placed outside the sorority house, IV Deli Mart and other locations in memory of the victims -- students carrying the hopes and dreams usually associated with college years.
Read: Gunman's Roommate Wanted to Move Out of Apartment
Wang's immediate plans included a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Eventually, he wanted to start a business with his friends. C.H., his family requested he be identified by the initials, was studying computer engineering. A family friend described Chen, also studying computer science, as a gentle soul who had a fondness for working with children. Cooper was a talented painter about to graduate with a degree in art history.
As for Weiss, she excelled in math and was working toward a career in finance. She was remembered at a poolside ceremony Monday night at a high school swimming complex in Thousand Oaks, about 50 miles southeast of Santa Barbara. The first-year UCSB student was a standout athlete who played water polo at Westlake High School.
“She went into everything with such vitality and enthusiasm,” said father Bob Weiss. “She was strong, smart, had a great sense of who she was.”
After hearing about the attack, the Weiss family traveled to Santa Barbara and found one of their daughter's sorority sisters at a hospital. With authorities offering no information, the family drove to one of 12 crime scenes and used a GPS app to track down Veronika’s iPhone.
Images: Vigils, Memorials for UCSB Students
The tracking feature led the family to the coroner's office.
"The kids keep dying," Bob Weiss said, adding that he was saddened for everyone involved in the violence, including the shooter and his family. "Guns showing up everywhere."
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown confirmed Rodger bought three handguns legally and that all of them were registered. They were purchased in Burbank, Oxnard and Goleta, he said. On Monday, Burbank police confirmed that Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives personnel served search warrants at the Burbank location.
Also on Tuesday, the parents of Weihan "David" Wang shared that their son had talked about moving out of the Isla Vista apartment he shared with Rodger. The UCSB student from Fremont did not talk much with Rodger, but was very close with the two victims, she said.
"He was supposed to have come home for the summer soon," said mother Jinshuang "Jane" Liu, adding that the family was planning a vacation to Yellowstone National Park.