A GoFundMe established for “Waffle House Hero” James Shaw, Jr. flew past its $50,000 goal overnight, and is showing no sign of stopping soon.
Shaw, 29, is credited with saving many lives after he bum-rushed a gunman who’d opened fire in a Tennessee Waffle House, killing four people before Shaw tackled him to the ground. Shaw, who was unarmed himself, suffered a hand burn from grabbing the barrel of the gun, and a wound on his arm from where a bullet grazed him.
He’s denied that he’s a hero, saying he was trying to “save himself” as much as anyone else. He added he went to the hospital for treatment for his superficial wounds, then woke up the next morning and went to church to pray for the victims.
That afternoon, he launched his own GoFundMe for the victims' families and had raised $94,000 as of Tuesday morning. Not only that, he actually formally apologized to the families of the four people he wasn't able to save.
"There's four families that are grieving right now. So much life was lost for no reason. I feel like it could be very selfish of me if I didn't point it out. And I apologize," he said.
To show some appreciation for Shaw’s heroism, Yashar Ali, a writer for New York Magazine and the Huffington Post, launched a GoFundMe where people can reward the young man for his act of service.
“According to news reports, James has a four-year-old daughter. Perhaps this money can be used for her college fund or some other education related expense. But I'd be just as happy if James used some of this money to take his family on a nice vacation,” Ali said on the page.
In just 11 hours, the GoFundMe for Shaw had wracked up more than $52,000 in donations from nearly 1,500 people.