Group: $260,000 given for shooting victims

ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — A nonprofit group said donors have given more than $260,000 to help victims of a mass shooting at an Alabama fire extinguisher plant earlier this year, and it is making plans to distribute the money.

A public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday in Albertville, where two people were killed and two others were injured during a shooting at a Mueller Co. plant in June.

Ten people have agreed to serve on a committee that will establish policies for distributing the money, according to a statement by the National Compassion Fund.

Based in Virginia and formed in 2014, the organization is a subsidiary of the National Center for Victims of Crime. It distributes money donated after mass casualty events, including shootings. Most of the donations for Albertville came from a gofundme.com appeal, and a few came from checks, a spokesman said.

Police said the gunman from the factory shooting in Albertville later killed himself near a cemetery in Guntersville where his mother is buried.

Authorities said the shooting was unprovoked, and no motive has emerged. Police identified the workers killed as Michael Dobbins and David Horton. Those hospitalized were Casey Sampson and Isaac Byrd.

The committee overseeing the fund will be chaired by Joe Whitmore, president of Snead State Community College in Boaz, where the meeting will be held Tuesday, according to an announcement by the nonprofit group. The organization said it has assisted victims of mass killings in places including Orlando, Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida.

“Our goal is to help the victims and families as much as possible and as quickly, efficiently and fairly as possible,” said executive director Jeff Dion.

The Tennessee-based Mueller is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mueller Water Products Inc. More than 400 people work at the plant in Albertville, giving the city of 21,000 its nickname of “Fire Hydrant Capital of the World.”

“Our goal is to help the victims and families as much as possible and as quickly, efficiently and fairly as possible.”

– EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JEFF DION