California shooting victims' families turn to GoFundMe for help

Jenny Espino | Gannett

Show Caption Hide Caption Witness describes Rancho Tehama shooting Sharon, a witness to the Rancho Tehama shooting, says she heard the gunshots from inside her home.

RANCHO TEHAMA RESERVE, Calif. — As with other tragedies that have rocked America lately, the crowdfunding site GoFundMe has become a staple in sharing victims' stories and raising money to pay their medical bills and funerals. Here are three such stories from Tuesday's shooting spree in Northern California.

Just going to the store

Mike McFadyen was heading home to his son's 30th birthday celebration Tuesday when he checked in at the Boise Airport gate.

By the time he boarded his plane, he was preparing for his sister-in-law's funeral and a hospital visit with his wounded younger brother.

Troy and Michelle McFadyen became targets of a gunman while on the simplest of trips, going to the store.

Family members believe the pair encountered the shooter, who randomly fired at people and property in seven locations across this small rural town, before he went to Rancho Tehama Elementary School as parents were dropping off their children Tuesday morning.

In a senseless 45 minutes, the gunman would kill four and wound 10 others before being killed in a shootout with deputies.

Mike McFadyen, 59, spoke to the Record Searchlight by phone as he drove to visit Troy, who was shot in both legs and has undergone two surgeries.

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"I'm going to say, 'I'm here,' because he's been asking for me," he said.

According to Mike, his brother and sister-in-law's car was forced off the road and into a ditch by a vehicle coming at them head on.

The driver of that vehicle got out and walked toward the McFaydens and began to fire into their car.

With no way to defend themselves, they ran for their lives, wrote Eric McFadyen, their nephew and Mike's son, in a GoFundMe page post.

But the gunman chased the couple until they fell to the ground.

Michelle was shot and killed. Troy, wounded and bleeding profusely, pleaded with the gunman to not waste his rounds because he was dying. The shooter moved on.

In the chaos of the moment, Troy phoned Mike, yelling: "They shot at us. Michelle is lying dead at my feet. She's dead. She's dead." Seconds later, the call dropped, Mike said.

Mike, relying on the family's deep roots in the Red Bluff area, immediately phoned two people: Gary, a Rancho Tehama neighbor, and Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko, a friend since high school.

"Tom started texting me right away. He made calls and he was just amazing," Mike McFadyen said.

The sheriff stayed with Troy at hospital and met the McFaydens' elderly mother as she arrived. "I know that is not part of his job, but I cannot say how good it was of him," Mike said.

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The McFadyens said in Troy's rare lucid moments, his emotions are raw.

"He feels anger that he could not defend himself," Eric McFadyen said. "We're a proud family. We treat others the way we want to be treated.

"To be in a situation where he was helpless, it makes me sick."

Mike McFadyen said Rancho Tehama has changed over the years. Marijuana growers have taken over and the area has developed a reputation for "tweakers." Those drug users have created a mess for regular residents just trying to keep to themselves, he said.

After 15 years living in the reserve, Troy and Michelle had talked about moving some place else while he waited for retirement. They even talked of moving to Idaho and had visited in June for the solar eclipse.

But they were in a holding pattern because, at 44, Troy has eight more years on the job as a pile driver in Oakland, Mike McFadyen said. Michelle was a child protective officer who worked with troubled kids.

Mike said his brother and wife had been dealing with people hooking into their water system to irrigate their marijuana grows. "Basically, people are bizarre out there," he said.

Speaking from San Diego, Eric McFadyen said he plans to travel to Rancho Tehama later in the week. In a shaking voice, he said, all he wants to do is help his uncle.

"We're really worried for him to be without her," he said in a voice that broke. "Michelle was really sweet. My gosh, she was so nice."

Mike McFadyen echoed that sentiment.

"They were inseparable. They were like newlyweds all the time. It was comical. They were always holding hands. They did everything together," he said.

"She was the anchor. She was stern and tough, and he's the strongest human being," he said. "But this has taken him to his knees."

Checking the mail

James Woods Sr. and James Woods Jr. were also doing a simple chore when mayhem hit. They were checking for mail when the gunman fired from behind, according to Ashley Oleane Paez, James Woods Jr.'s girlfriend.

Paez said the younger Woods, 20 and a father of two, had come out of his first surgery successfully. Doctors told them they thought Woods' wounds were from two different guns. "He was responding well when asked (to), but (they) still have to keep him asleep to help breathe and heal," she wrote on a GoFundMe page. "Please Help Share and raise money for his family for transportation."

A schoolboy hurt

Alejandro "Alex" Hernandez, 6, was inside a classroom during lockdown at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School when the gunman opened fire.

He was shot in the chest and right foot and is recovering at a hospital, according to the GoFundMe account set up by his cousin Alondra Mendoza.

The family has raised more than $20,000. Mendoza said the money is to help Alex and his family in their recovery.

"His family needs prayers and support at this time and any donation and prayers are appreciated," she wrote Tuesday.

Follow Jenny Espino on Twitter: @jennyespino_RS