How to help victims of Allen, Texas, mall shooting: Here’s a verified GoFundMe site
A verified GoFundMe hub called “How to Help: Allen, Texas, Mall Shooting” has been established for people who want a safe destination for their donated money.
The hub includes accounts such as one from VictimsFirst, an advocacy group for victims of mass shootings. The advocacy group will work with local victim advocates in Allen to distribute all of the money collected directly to victims.
On Monday, the Support for Allen Fund was started by the Communities for Texas giving people who want to donate money for the victims in the shooting another way to help. According to the City of Allen website, the money raised will not go directly to individuals. Instead, the money will go to “agencies providing mental health, grief, and trauma support for the victims and their families, as well as first responders who may also have been impacted by this event.”
All eight of the victims who died have been publicly identified.
“Our hearts go out to the victims, families, and first responders impacted by the shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas,” according to GoFundMe in a statement. “To make it easier for people who want to support those affected, GoFundMe has launched a centralized hub housing all verified fundraisers related to the shooting.”
A gunman dressed in black tactical gear, identified as Mauricio Garcia, drove to the Allen Premium Outlet stores Saturday afternoon and opened fire on unsuspecting shoppers, killing at least eight people and sending others to hospitals. The incident falls squarely within the parameters of a mass shooting as defined by the U.S. government.
Mass killings have been a regular feature in Texas life for the past 16 years, according to a database of mass killings in the U.S. since 2006. The study shows 2,087 people were killed in 551 mass killings during that time. In Texas, 228 people were murdered in that time, and 215 of the victims were killed in shootings. That is 7.9% of all victims of mass killings in the United States.
