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A fundraiser set up for the family of a custodian who was killed during an attack on the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, has raised almost $500,000.
A GoFundMe page indicated that Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian at the Covenant School, was among three staffers killed during the shooting at the Nashville Christian school. Three children were reportedly also killed.
“Officers entered the first story of the school, began clearing it. They heard shots coming second level. They immediately went to the gunfire,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department described the attack. “When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her and she was fatally shot by responding police officers.”
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
As of Wednesday, the fundraiser has garnered nearly $500,000 in donations.
“Mike was the beloved father of eight children,” the page read. “More notably, he was ‘Big Mike’ to his students, who will surely feel his loss in the years to come.”
Jim Bachmann, a friend of Hill’s, spoke warmly of “Big Mike,” telling WKRN he was a “Salt to the earth kind of fellow” and a “sweet man.”
Some members of the community have expressed their belief Hill would have put his own life at risk to protect students.
“I don’t know the details yet. But I have a feeling, when it all comes out, Mike’s sacrifice saved lives.” Pastor Tim Dunavant of Hartsville First United Methodist Church wrote to Facebook.
Duvanant acknowledged he does not have any concrete evidence for this belief but wrote, “I just know what kind of guy he was. And I know he’s the kind of guy that would do that”
Similarly, the GoFundMe page refers to Hill’s “selfless act protecting our children.”
The page indicated that all proceeds “will be directed in its entirety to Mike’s family to put towards funeral services, expenses and to further dedicate to causes close to their hearts to facilitate healing in the Covenant and Nashville communities.”
