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GoFundMe for Las Vegas victims soars past $3 million

Posted at 12:28 PM, Oct 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 12:37:10-04

LAS VEGAS -- A GoFundMe account raising funds for the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas had collected more than $3.2 million as of midday Tuesday, less than 48 hours after the devastating rampage.

The GoFundMe page was created by Steve Sisolak, the Clark County Commission chair from Las Vegas, who started the fund-raiser off with a donation of $10,000.

"We are raising funds to assist the victims of the tragic Las Vegas shooting. I spent last night with Sheriff Lombardo at Clark County's only level-one trauma center," the page said. "Funds will be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting​."

The donations have poured in since then, led by $400,000 from Stephen J. Cloobeck and $50,000 each from the NFL's Oakland Raiders and the NFL Foundation.

Several celebrities also donated to the cause, including boxer Mike Tyson and musical acts Florida Georgia Line, Kid Rock and The Chainsmokers, according to the GoFundMe list of donors.

The money "has been donated by generous people around the country that... care about what we're doing," Sisolak said in a news conference on Monday evening.

"The hate that this one individual, this lone wolf, rained down on our community and on the MGM Village park was met with an outpouring of love by our entire community. And we will get through this together."

The GoFundMe page will service immediate needs such as providing airline tickets and accommodations to victims' families and supplies to shelters, where hotel guests unable to return to their rooms have been instructed to go.

The fundraiser that has garnered the most amount of money in GoFundMe's history was created after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016. That account raised $7.85 million.