By Chris Willman
Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic
A GoFundMe page set up for the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the woman killed in a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade, has caught the attention of Taylor Swift, who made donations on the page totaling $100,000 early Friday morning.
The “Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan Memorial” page was set up Thursday afternoon, with a goal of raising $75,000 for the family of the 44-year-old shooting victim. Around 1,300 people had made donations when Swift pushed the total beyond the goal in the wee hours of Friday morning, first making a donation of $50,000 and then making a second donation in the same amount eight minutes later.
“Sending my deepest sympathies and condolences in the wake of your devastating loss. With love, Taylor Swift,” wrote the singer.
While that counted as in the middle of the night in U.S. time zones, it was early evening for where Swift is in the world at present, in Melbourne, Australia, where she is playing the first night of a three-night engagement there, after traveling halfway around the world to resume her tour after attending the Super Bowl. The donations were made around showtime in Australia.
Swift’s rep confirmed to Variety that the donations by the singer appearing on the page were legit.
“This fund has been set up to benefit the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan,” reads the GoFundMe page’s text. “Lisa was celebrating the Chiefs’ Super Bowl Victory parade when senselessly killed. She is survived by two children and her husband of 22 years. She was an amazing mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend to so many. We ask that you continue to keep her family in your prayers as we grieve the loss of her life. This fund will help provide vital financial support to her family as they process this unthinkable tragedy. Any amount is appreciated.”
Lopez-Galvan died Wednesday after being struck in her abdomen by a gunshot as chaos broke out. Initial reports said she passed away after undergoing surgery, but later reports clarified that she died at the scene.
Besides being a wedding DJ, Lopez-Galvan was the co-host of a Latin music program, “Taste of Tejano,” on a community radio station, KKFI, according to the Kansas City Star.
Altogether, 23 people were wounded in the outbreak of gunfire following the climax of a rally celebrating the Chiefs’ Bowl triumph, with Lopez-Galvan being the sole fatality among those 23. Police said Thursday that two juveniles have been detained in the mass shootings.
Lopez-Galvan’s son, Marc Lopez-Galvan, who is in his 20s, was among the other gunshot victims and has been released from the hospital. Two other more distant relatives were also wounded. The victim’s teenaged daughter, Adriana, was also at the scene but escaped being hit.
Swift has been a frequent guest at Chiefs game and was at the Super Bowl to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce, flying to the U.S. in-between weekend-long stints in Tokyo and Melbourne.
In 2015, it was reported that GoFundMe raised its maximum donation cap upwards from $15,000 to $50,000 as a result of Swift having to make multiple donations to reach the level she wanted. At the time, Swift had reportedly tried to give $50,000 to Naomi Oakes, an 11-year old girl battling leukemia who had adopted the then-hit “Bad Blood” as her fight song. Because of the GoFundMe maximum, Swift had to pay the money in four installments, causing the change in the site’s policy. The current cap would explain why Swift made her $100k donation in separate increments.
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