Shaq Donates $50k DJ Appearance Fee To Shooting Victim's Family
Lisa McLoughlin
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal reportedly donated his $50,000 (£40,768) DJ appearance fee to the family of Aaron Salter Jr., a retired police officer who tragically died in the Buffalo mass shooting in May.
The sports legend, who performs under the stage name ‘DJ Diesel’, brought his Bass All-Stars show to Buffalo Riverworks on Friday night (24 June) one month following the tragic incident.
But before he took to the stage, the Hall of Famer reportedly met with the widow and son of Salter Jr., who died while heroically trying to stop the gunman inside Tops supermarket, and gifted them his appearance fee, according to TMZ.
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Shaq’s generous gift comes days after the basketball superstar told SiriusXM’s Swaggy Sie that he was donating proceeds from the concert to the families of the 10 victims who died in the mass shooting.
He said: "My next show is in Buffalo. I’m going to donate my proceeds to some of the family members that had a tragic loss."
"If I see where there’s a need, I take care of it," he added of his charitable offering.
Last month, a survivor of the Buffalo supermarket shooting recalled the moment a 911 dispatcher hung up on her.
A gunman killed 10 people in an attack at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, 14 May.
Of the 13 people who were struck by gunfire, 11 were Black, with police describing the incident as a ‘racially motivated hate crime’.
One of those who was working as an assistant manager at the supermarket at the time of the shooting has now given her account of what happened.
Speaking on a voice call with Buffalo broadcaster WGRZ, she said: "I didn’t really see much at all, I just heard the gunshots and just dropped down to the ground and just waited for him to stop.
"He just wouldn’t stop so I tried to call 911 and I was whispering because I could hear him close by… when I whispered on the phone to 911, the dispatcher started yelling at me, saying 'why are you whispering, you don’t have to whisper'.
"And I’m trying to tell her, like 'ma’am he’s in the store, he’s shooting, he’s an active shooter, I’m scared for my life' and she said something crazy to me and then she hung up in my face.
"I had to call my boyfriend and tell him to call 911."
The shooting suspect was named as Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white man who started firing outside of the supermarket before continuing his attack inside.
After he surrendered to authorities, Gendron was charged with first-degree murder, with possibly more charges to follow.
Gendron is also suspected of having written a 180-page manifesto posted online detailing his plan for the massacre.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677