In May, 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, in a school shooting. Former MLB and NFL star Bo Jackson revealed this week that he paid for their funerals.
Three days after the shooting, Jackson and a friend flew to Uvalde and presented Gov. Greg Abbott with a $170,000 check offering to cover all funeral expenses.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Jackson said he felt compelled to support the victims' families.
There's nothing right about parents burying their children," he said. There's something wrong with that.
A ten-thousand-dollar bill for something that shouldn't have happened was the last thing they needed."
The connection Jackson felt to Uvalde was personal. When he visits a friend on a long drive west, he often stops in the city.
There is something about Uvalde that sticks in your mind. “Just the name,” he replied. "I don't know anyone there. I was touched by it.
In addition to helping raise funds for disaster relief in his home state of Alabama, the 60-year-old Jackson was an All-Star with the Royals in 1989.
Upon learning of the shooting at Uvalde, he responded to the event by making his first mass shooting donation, he said.
Jackson said, "It's the last thing you want to hear that there's an active shooter at your child's school." She added, "If it doesn't bother you, there's something wrong with you."