Musicians to Raise Funds for Waffle House Shooting Victims

Dashboard Confessional and Brantley Gilbert have teamed to raise money to benefit the victims of the shooting at a Tennessee Waffle House last Sunday. The incident left four dead and injured several others.

To raise money for those affected, the musicians are selling T-shirts that feature the words “I Believe in Heroism.” The phrase was inspired by James Shaw Jr.’s actions. He was injured when he tackled the gunman, grabbed the shooter’s rifle and threw it over the counter. Proceeds from sales of the T-shirt will support those affected by the Waffle House shooting, including Shaw Jr.

“When you see someone like James, who just jumped up and did what he did – and you think about the lives he saved, you realize what a special kind of guy he is,” Gilbert said in a statement. “I called my manager, Rich Egan, who heads up the I Believe In Nashville coalition, and asked if there was any way we could do something that would shine a light and remind everyone that heroes can be real life people. We came up with the idea of creating ‘I Believe in Heroism’ T-shirts that we will sell at our May 4th Nashville show and give the proceeds to James.”

Gilbert’s May 4th show
takes place at Ascend Amphitheater. Carrabba, who joined Gilbert and Shaw Jr.
on Wednesday during a press conference announcing the news, will sell the shirts
during Dashboard Confessional’s May 11th performance at Ryman Auditorium. The
shirts are also available via the I Believe in Nashville website. Following the incident, Shaw Jr. set up a GoFundMe for the victims’ families. A
reporter set up a separate GoFundMe to benefit Shaw Jr. and his four-year-old daughter.