Waffle House Hero Raises More than $160,000 for Victims’ Families

The hero who wrestled a gun away from the suspected shooter at a Tennessee Waffle House raised more than $160,000 for the shooting victims as of Thursday morning—more than ten times the initial fundraising goal.

James Shaw Jr.’s GoFundMe campaign raised $160,076 as of Thursday morning, just days after the Sunday morning attack that killed four people and injured at least three more.

Shaw suffered a gunshot wound to his elbow and burns on his hand from grabbing the rifle from the gunman at the restaurant, preventing further casualties and injuries.

The 29-year-old shooting survivor launched the fundraiser shortly after the attack, setting an initial fundraising goal of $15,000. In less than 24 hours, Shaw raised more than $45,000—and his fundraiser showed no signs of slowing down.

In the spirit of kindness, another man inspired by Shaw’s generosity created a fundraising page to benefit the Waffle House hero.

Yashar Ali, who writes for New York magazine and HuffPost, raised just over $172,000 for Shaw as of Thursday morning. His goal is to raise $175,000.

The Antioch, Tennessee, Waffle House also pledged to help the shooting victims, announcing that all of its profits for the next month will go towards the families of those killed or wounded in the attack.