How To Help Families Of The 9 San Jose Shooting Victims

SAN JOSE, CA — Each of the nine victims killed in a mass shooting Wednesday at a San Jose rail yard was someone’s husband, father, son or grandson.

They leave behind family members understandably wracked with grief, but in some cases saddled with worry after the shooter took away their financial stability.

The Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority is handling most of the costs of funerals and burials for the victims of the mass shooting at its Guadalupe Center, according to GoFundMe crowd

Verified GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns have been established to help the families of the victims, who spent the last moments of their lives ushering their coworkers to safety, rail yard Superintendent Naunihal Singh said at a news conference hours after the deadliest mass shooting in Bay Area history

Among them:

• Adrian Balleza, 29, a maintenance worker and light rail operator;
• Alex Ward Fritch, 49, a substation operator;
• Lars Kep Lane, 63, an overhead line worker;
• Paul DelaCruz Megia, 42, assistant superintendent;
• Timothy Michael Romo, 49, an overhead line worker;
• Taptejdeep Singh, 36, a light rail operator;

Others who were killed in the attack are Jose Dejesus Hernandez, 35, an electromechanical and overhead line worker; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40, an electromechanic and overhead line worker; and Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63, a substation maintainer.

If more verified fundraisers are established, they will be included on the sites San Jose victims portal, the site said.

There are several other ways to help:

The Amalgamated Transit Union is collecting donations through its Disaster Fund Relief.

The Bill Wilson Center, a critical incident response agency providing support to victims, witnesses and first responders, is accepting donations for local nonprofit groups that provide services and support during mass shooting events.

The Silicon Valley-based Working Partnership USA, a community organizing group, is accepting tax-deductible donations through its Union Resources Program.

Give blood at one of the Stanford Blood Center’s three donation centers or search its donor portal for a blood drive. The Blood Center said on its website it has an urgent need for type O blood after victims “required a significant amount of type O blood, and will continue to do so throughout their recovery.”

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