When Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith says the July 20 Aurora theater shooting hit home, that’s an understatement.

Smith’s eldest son, Peyton, also attended a midnight screening of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” that same night with another teenager. Peyton was in a theater in Charlotte, N.C., but because of the coincidence, Smith said he was shaken when hearing about the Aurora tragedy that left 12 dead and at least 58 injured.

Six days after the Aurora shootings, Smith announced he would donate $100,000 to the Aurora Victim Relief Fund. Smith has no connection to Aurora or to the state of Colorado.

“You think, ‘That could have happened to my son,’ ” Smith said Thursday. “When you’re a parent, you’re always thinking about keeping your children out of harm’s way. You allow them to do things or go places, and you want to mark it off in your mind as being OK.

“When I heard about the shootings, I thought, ‘If that had happened here, I would have thought it would never have happened if I hadn’t let Peyton go to that movie.’ You maybe shouldn’t think like that, but as a parent, you do.”

The Broncos play Sunday at Carolina. Smith, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, leads the Panthers with 38 catches for 630 yards.

“The Aurora tragedy touched Steve in a personal way,” said his California-based agent, Derrick Fox. “Because of the circumstances with his son also being at the midnight showing, Steve became very emotional when he called me and said he wanted to do something to help the victims.”

As of a report last week, the fund had received $5 million in donations and the governor’s office announced that 52 claims from victims had been filed.

Smith said he received personal letters and messages from Aurora officials thanking him for the generous donation. “I made it public because I hoped others would feel the need to also help,” Smith said.

A native of Los Angeles who played college football at Utah, Smith has received some negative publicity over the years, including engaging in fights with teammates in 2002 and 2008, and trash talking to opponents.

But he has been active in charitable initiatives, including establishing a coat drive in Charlotte and funding travel expenses for a local high school band to perform during the presidential inauguration in January 2009.

Recently, Smith helped hand out hundreds of shoes and socks to homeless people at a shelter in Charlotte.

Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280, tkensler@denverpost.com or twitter.com/tomkensler