As investigators and reporters undercover more details about what ultimately led Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking to kill four people and injure many others, much of the story’s attention has thankfully (and deservedly) turned to James Shaw. That’s because the 29 year old wrestled Reinking’s AR-15 rifle away from him mid-shooting spree, thereby saving countless lives. And if that wasn’t enough, Shaw then started a GoFundMe for the victims and their families.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the fundraiser has so far accumulated over $150,000. According to CNN, Shaw’s GoFundMe has raised a whopping $155,000 (as of this writing), which is just over 10 times the original goal of $15,000. Meanwhile, the Waffle House in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee — where the incident took place on Sunday — “has pledged to donate all its proceeds for the next month to the families of living and deceased victims of the attack.”
Shaw was honored by the state’s general assembly on Tuesday when it passed a joint resolution praising his heroism and his “penchant for honesty.” In addition, New York-based freelance journalist Yashar Ali started another GoFundMe, this time as a college fund for Shaw’s four-year-old daughter. Per CNN, the second fundraiser has raised over $165,000 for Shaw’s family from at least 5,000 individual donors.
(Via CNN)