GoFundMe Pages Set Up For Family Of Grandmother, Grandson Killed In Publix Shooting
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - To help with funeral expenses, GoFundMe pages have been set up to help the family of a woman and her year-old grandson who were killed at a Publix in Royal Palm Beach last week.
Sydney Herron, a friend of the family, organized one of the fundraisers.
In a post on the page, Herron wrote that "Because of how sudden both of these deaths were, their families could use assistance with covering funeral costs, grief counseling and other bills that arise."
Herron said the second fundraiser was set up by Julie Nolan.
"We were both asked by separate members of the family to set up GoFundMes, not aware that another was also being asked," Herron wrote in the post.
Nolan wrote on her page, "Anything you can donate will help this amazing family that has been struck with such a horrible loss to begin the healing process."
Last Friday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw announced that Timothy Wall, the man who fatally shot the woman and child before turning the gun on himself, wanted to kill people and children, according to comments made on his Facebook account.
Investigators said the 55-year-old Wall, with no previous criminal record, simply walked into the Publix supermarket on Thursday, June 10th, and killed the boy and his 69-year-old grandmother in the produce department around 11:30 a.m.
They said the woman had left the boy in a little shopping cart as she went to look for a few items. Wall shot the boy first with a semi-automatic pistol.
"The grandma instinctively jumped in and tried to stop him. She struggled with him and his gun jams. He was able to overpower, push her down to the ground. And he shoots her down while she's on the ground," said Police Major Talal Masri.
Right after that, Wall shot himself in the head.
Sheriff's investigators said the interaction between Wall and grandmother may have caused the gun to malfunction causing him to have to reload. They believe the grandmother may have helped prevent an even worse tragedy from occurring.
The names of the grandmother and her grandson won't be released. Officials say their family invoked Marsy's Law, which allows victims of crimes to block information that could be used to locate or harass them or their families from being made public.
Bradshaw said there was no known relationship between Wall and the victims.
According to state records, Wall and his ex-wife once owned a dry-cleaning business in the Publix shopping center. It is unclear when it closed.
Wall declared bankruptcy earlier this year after falling deeply into debt, federal court records show.
In his bankruptcy filing, Wall listed $6,000 in assets, including $9 in checking, $18 in savings, $4,100 in a stock trading account, $740 in bitcoin, and a $300 gun. He said he earned $24,000 last year as a laborer working through a temp agency and his mode of transportation was a $600 scooter.
Police found the red scooter in the parking lot.
Meanwhile, he had accumulated more than $215,000 in debts, most of it owed on the home his ex-wife now owns, the bankruptcy file shows. She divorced him in 2018 and he had signed over their house to her in 2019, Palm Beach County court records show.
