Friends launch fundraisers for Toucans shooting victim

Fundraisers are being launched for one of the victim’s shot at Toucans Tiki Bar in Palm Springs early Sunday morning.

Aaron alter is one of the men who was shot at random according to his friend, Steven Crawford.

“The fact that I was on stage, here in the patio, on Friday night with him, then I heard what happened to him,” Crawford said.

Alter was shot in the leg. He was rushed to Desert Regional Hospital then moved to Loma Linda for surgery.

“The bullet actually shard. There’s a lot of pieces in his leg now. He’s going to be out of commission for a couple months,” said Crawford.

Crawford and Alter are both local performers at Wang’s in the Desert. Alter posted a message on Facebook after the shooting, reading in part, “Incidents like this happen all over the world all too frequently. — As a community what changes do we make to protect ourselves more?”

“There’re guns in the Valley and that’s what sucks. Someone actually brings a gun out to a bar or even a parking lot. It sucks. It sucks,” said Crawford.

Alter’s supporters are rallying together and have planned a fundraiser next Wednesday, April 3, at Wang’s at 7 pm.

“I was thinking about his kids. I was thinking about him and I thought something needs to be done. We gotta raise money for him and his family. So I contacted the manager here,” said Vincent Corralas, a friend of Alter.

Guy Garrett is the General Manager at Wang’s, who was able to make the fundraiser a reality.

“A portion of proceeds from the bar and the event on the patio Wednesday [will go to Alter]. [I’m] very excited about that. I also helped create the GoFundMe and we’ve raised just under $2,200 right now,” said Garrett.

Alter told News Channel 3’s Lauren Coronado that he expects to be released from the hospital Tuesday night.

Palm Springs Police are continuing to search for the gunman.