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Seal Beach shooting victims get help from local businesses
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A carved pumpkin and t-shirt on display at the memorial that's developed around Salon Meritage where a gunman shot eight people to death on October 12.
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Corey Moore/KPCC
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John Carpenter, owner of "John's Philly Grille", says his shop donated about 20% of it's daily earnings to the Seal Beach victims' fund.
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Corey Moore/KPCC
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Businesses near the Seal Beach salon where a man shot eight people to death pledged Monday to donate a portion of their proceeds to the victims’ families.
Among the establishments are the Ark Pet Salon and John’s Philly Grille. Organizers have established a victims’ fund at the Bank of America.
Near the salon, volunteers also sold white T-shirts displaying a blue heart the words "Support in Love Seal Beach." Shirts are selling for $15 apiece to raise money for the victims and their families.
Veronica Tagami says she’s impressed that more than 37,000 shirts have sold since the shooting incident earlier this month.
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“Seal Beach is a very small community and a lot of people move out and so we’ve had a huge outcall for shirts," Tagami said. "And we’re shipping them now and everyday and someone else comes up or they knew someone, somehow and it’s just every day, we’re always surprised, it’s always busy.”
John Carpenter is the owner of the Philly Grille shop a few doors from Salon Meritage, where the shooting occurred.
“Seems like a dream. It doesn’t even seem real still to me," he said.
The Philly Grille has been there eight years, and during the lunch time rush, Carpenter's too busy to talk. Later, he takes a moment to reflect on the deadly ordeal he says has affected people far beyond this small, quiet beach city.
“Randy, who owned this salon, had a house in Temecula, so there’s people he knows down in Temecula that I read in the paper he golfed with... Friends and neighbors back down there. So this is wide-spreading.”
Carpenter said some of the Salon Meritage staff would come in from time to time to grab a sandwich.
Even as he spoke, mourners added to the memorial of flowers, balloons, photos and candles that envelops the salon a few doors down. A pumpkin with the words “Seal Beach” carved in it, along with the date of the incident, "10-12-11," sits at the front of the display.
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John’s Philly Grille is donating 20 percent of its daily earnings - a few hundred bucks – to the families of the victims.
When asked about his thoughts on offering support to the victims’ loved ones, Carpenter shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. It’s still numbing," he said. "It’s hard to even conceive what they’re going through. So whatever we can do... pull together as a group is all we can do.”
Carpenter said he’s also contributing directly.
“I bought a stack of the T-shirts and gave to some of the crew members and myself... I think I have one right here," he said as he reached into his vehicle and picked out a t-shirt. He paused as he read the print: "Support in Love Seal Beach.”
Funerals and memorial services for the eight victims continue this week, including one held Monday for Michele Fournier, the ex-wife of shooting suspect Scott Dekraai.
Officials established a fund for the families at the Bank of America.
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