Families of Aurora, Colorado shooting victims question fundraising

Family members of some of the Colorado theater shooting victims question a fundraising campaign, saying it collected more than $5 million using pictures and names of the victims, according to a report by the Associated Press. 

So far, the campaign has given no more than $5,000 each to families facing medical bills for treatment, travel and other expenses related to the attack. The families also contend they have been shut out on decisions on how the money should be spent and that fundraisers were unresponsive to their questions and suggestions.

The suspect in the shootings, James Eagan Holmes, 24, is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. He hasn't entered a plea but his next hearing is this Thursday. Twelve people were killed in the July 20 shootings, 58 were wounded and many of them face long recoveries or permanent disability. 

The Community First Foundation, asked by Gov. John Hickenlooper to operate the relief fund, said on its website it has raised just over $5 million for the Aurora Victim Relief Fund. The foundation said it would give $350,000 to the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance to distribute among the surviving victims and the families of those who died. The families just want to understand why they have been shunned from the campaign, and a meeting has been scheduled between the victims' families and officials of the fundraising campaign. We hope the foundation and the governor make things right.