More than $1 million raised for boy, 6, who lost entire family in Allen mall mass shooting
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe/ Associated Press / Alamy
Over $1 million has been raised for a six year old boy whose entire family was killed in the devastating mass shooting in Allen, Texas.
Cindy Cho, Kyu Cho, and their children William, six, and James, three, were present at an outlet mall in Texas on Saturday (6 May) when a gunman opened fire on shoppers and workers.
While parents Cindy, 35, and Kyu, 37, and youngest son James were among the eight victims who lost their lives, William survived the horrific event.
Advert
According to a GoFundMe set up to support the orphaned young boy, William had just celebrated his sixth birthday four days earlier.
The fundraiser description reads: "An afternoon that should have been filled with light, love and celebration unfortunately was cut short by another mass shooting massacre that left 8 victims dead.
"Cindy, Kyu and three year old James were among those victims that tragically lost their lives and the family is in deep mourning.
"After being released from the ICU, their six-year-old son William is the only surviving member of this horrific event.
"This GoFundMe is being created to help their family. Please share this link with your family and friends."
As of Tuesday (May 9), the fundraiser has earned over $1.2 million.
The other five victims from Saturday's mass shooting have since been named.
They are: Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32, Christian LaCour, 20, Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27, and sisters Daniela, 11, and Sofia Mendoza, 8.
Gunman Mauricio Garcia, 33, had driven to the outlet mall on Saturday afternoon and opened fire with an AR-15.
Garcia was fatally shot by a police officer who was responding to an unrelated call.
Although investigations are still ongoing, it is understood that Garcia held extremist beliefs and often shared rants against different minorities on online forums.
Video footage from the attack also saw Garcia wearing a badge with the letters RWDS, which stands for 'Right Wing Death Squad'.
It's a phrase commonly used by white supremacists and far-right extremists who promote violence against political enemies.
The US defence department has since confirmed that Garcia enrolled in the US Army back in June 2008, but was 'terminated three months later without completing initial entry training' due to 'physical or mental conditions'.
Saturday's devastating event marks the 201st mass shooting this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
With this being just the latest of a number of back-to-back mass shootings, the incident has reignited increasingly desperate calls for stricter gun control laws in the United States.