Son of Atlanta Shooting Victim Pens Heartbreaking Tribute on GoFundMe

A son who lost his mother in the Atlanta-area shootings earlier this week wrote a loving tribute for his mom on GoFundMe, noting her sacrifices as a single parent who dedicated her whole life to provide for him and his brother.

The mass shooting on Tuesday night claimed the lives of eight people, six of them have been identified as Asian women, NextShark earlier reported. As of this writing, only five of the eight victims have been identified by the authorities.

Hyun Jung Grant has not been formally identified by police, but her son, 23-year-old Randy Park, has revealed that she was killed at Gold Spa, where she worked.

In the touching ode, Park said his mother was “one of my best friends.”

Grant was working at Gold Spa on Tuesday night when a man opened fire, killing her and two others. He went on to kill five more people at other spas.

According to Park, losing Grant “has put a new lens on my eyes on the amount of hate that exists in our world.”

With just him left to handle his mother’s funeral and legal matters, Park shared that he and his brother are currently in a challenging situation. He also needs to find a new place for himself and his brother as he has been advised to move out to save money.

“As much as I want to grieve and process the reality that she is gone, I have a younger brother to take care of and matters to resolve as a result of this tragedy,” Park lamented.

“Frankly, I have no time to grieve for long. I will need to figure out the living situation for my brother and I for the next few months, possibly year.”

Park’s campaign has so far raised over $700,000, far exceeding his original target of $20,000.

“I don’t know how any word I write here will ever convey how grateful and blessed I am to receive this much support,” Park wrote in an update. “To put it bluntly, I can’t believe you guys exist.”

“My mother can rest easy knowing I have the support of the world with me,” he added.

The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged with eight counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault without bond.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, Park has called the law enforcement officials’ explanation that the attack was caused by the suspect’s addiction to sex as “bullsh*t.”

“My question to the family is, what did y’all teach him?” he was quoted as saying. “Did you turn him in because you’re scared that you’ll be affiliated with him? You just gonna scapegoat your son out? And they just get away scot free? Like, no, you guys definitely taught him some shit. Take some f*cking responsibility.”

Feature Image via Randy Park

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