James Shaw Jr. becomes hero twice — the second time as a fundraiser

The hero behind the Waffle House shooting has managed to raise a significant amount of cash to support the victims

 

A week after his heroic quick thinking stopped a shooting at a Nashville Waffle House from getting far worse, 29-year-old James Shaw is proving his altruism with a GoFundMe effort for the four shooting victims approaching $200,000.

He started the fundraiser to benefit the families of DeEbony Groves, Akilah DaSilva, Taurean Sanderlin, and Joe Perez. Shaw, who was grazed by a bullet from the gun, managed to tackle shooter Travis Reinking as he was reloading and tossed the rifle over the counter.

READ MORE: Meet the Waffle House shooting victims

Reinking escaped naked from the restaurant and was eventually caught late on Monday following a more than 36-hour manhunt.

A separate GoFundMe account was launched by journalist Yashar Ali for Shaw and his daughter, which is also nearing $200,000. Shaw has been showered with praise over the last week from nearly all corners of the globe, except from the White House.

Shaw, has repeated said that he was simply trying to survive and wasn’t trying to be a hero. However, as the week has gone on, his tune has turned more toward helping to prevent future shootings.

READ MORE: Meet hero who disarmed Waffle House shooter

Shaw said on his Facebook page that these shootings will not stop and – much to the chagrin of the NRA — will use his new-found stardom to be an advocate for common sense gun laws.

“I’m using this platform not only for the families that lost people and the other wounded victims,” Shaw says in the post, “but also for future incidents, education young men and women about…gun violence.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE