Eight people, including three young children, were killed in a mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, on Saturday.
A family trip to return some clothes at an Allen, Texas, mall became a “horrific” scene when a gunman opened fire on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring seven.
Among the victims: both of young William Cho’s parents, Cindy and Kyu Cho, as well as his 3-year-old brother James. William, 6, was also shot but is recovering.
William’s parents Cindy, 35, and Kyu, 37, reportedly took him and his little brother James to the mall to exchange clothes he had received for his 6th birthday just four days prior.
“An afternoon that should have been filled with light, love and celebration unfortunately was cut short by another mass shooting massacre that left [eight] victims dead,” a GoFundMe set up for William reads. “Cindy, Kyu and three year old James were among those victims that tragically lost their lives and the family is in deep mourning.”
The page said William was released from the ICU after being shot himself, but is now “the only surviving member of this horrific event.”
The page had raised more than $1.3 million for William and his family as of Tuesday morning. GoFundMe has set up a central page with official fundraisers for other victims, including the Mendoza family, whose daughters Daniela, 11, and Sofia, 8, who were also killed in the shooting.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said “such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar.”
Saturday’s shooting at the mall in Allen — a city roughly 25 miles north of Dallas — was the 202nd mass shooting this year in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive, an organization that tracks gun violence and defines mass shootings as any gun-related incident in which four or more people are shot or killed.
The shooting Saturday, whose eight victims included three children, came nearly a year after 19 children were shot and killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It also came about a month after three children and three adults were killed at a school in Nashville.
Biden noted in his statement Sunday that “the leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence.”
The Cho family lived in Dallas, according to The New York Times, where father Kyu moved after immigrating to the U.S. in the early 1990s from South Korea as a child.
The 37-year-old father of two became an immigration attorney himself, and worked at a local law firm in Richardson, Texas. He got his undergrad at University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2007 and later earned a legal degree at Ave Maria School of Law in Florida.
“As an immigrant himself, Kyu has a deep pride, respect, and appreciation for the American Dream,” his profile page on the firm’s website reads, explaining Kyu was “passionate” about immigration law and was even learning Spanish to help fellow immigrants from Dallas’ Latin American communities.
Beyond his work, though, the firm says Kyu was someone who “enjoys participating in church activities, watching his two young boys grow up, and spending time with his family.”
Cindy was a dentist at Thrive Dental and Orthodontics in Richardson, Texas, according to local Fox 4 News. The business said in a statement that her coworkers are “absolutely devastated.”
“Our whole team loved her very much, and we are absolutely heartbroken,” the office said. “Dr. Kang was the sweetest, most beautiful soul with the kindest heart. She was an outstanding dentist, mother, wife, daughter, friend, and faithful woman of God.”