Since Saturday, the people in Allen and surrounding communities have stepped up in a major way. The acts of service range from providing water, to mental and emotional support. One Allen ISD school bus driver was among those who answered an unexpected call for help.
Monday through Friday, James Green has the important job of transporting children for Allen ISD. He never thought he’d get a call that would place him in the aftermath of Saturday's mass shooting. Like so many others, he got a news alert on his phone.
“When I heard it, it was like ‘Oh no. surely not,’” said Green.
In the chaos and desperation, things were left behind. Inevitably, people had to go back for their necessities, their IDs and their vehicles. Allen ISD Chief Communications Officer David Hicks said that’s where Allen ISD came into the picture. During coordinating efforts to reunite families and people to their belongings, the FBI reached out to the district.
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“The FBI asked the district if we would be willing to provide shuttle services to be able to get citizens back to their vehicles. And from the Allen ISD standpoint, we didn’t hesitate,” Hicks said.
Green’s supervisor called and told him the transportation team was needed. And just like that, he became one of the helpers. Green would transport people from an off-site location back to the scene of the shooting to retrieve their cars. As they got onto the bus, he wondered about what they had endured.
What type of experience did they have? Were they the ones that were there close to it? Were they at the end of the mall running? And my heart just felt for them.
James Green
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A bus normally full of bubbly children was occupied by different passengers. He said driving up to the outlet mall is something he won’t soon forget.
“It was a different drive than I’ve had because I have students, and now I people that have experienced a traumatic thing in life,” he said. “So, it was surreal.”
As the memorial grows and the days pass, there’s a common thread. There’s a need for support from the community.
“It’s kind of like, you have a thousand-piece puzzle. And each part was important to make whole,” said Green. “So, I was a little part of that thousand-piece puzzle that was needed.”
The City of Allen said personal property abandoned inside stores will be collected by individual store managers and distributed back to owners based on each store's lost-and-found policy.
ONLINE For updates visit the City of Allen's official website.
With the outpouring of support for the victims of the mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets, GoFundMe has launched a centralized hub for all verified fundraisers related to the shooting. The online fundraising platform said it was working around the clock to make sure that all funds donated go directly to survivors or the families of victims.
