A Good Samaritan has appealed for help for a wheelchair-bound victim of the Columbine shooting who is now homeless and forced to stay at an LA nursing facility.
Richard Castaldo was 17 when he was shot outside his high school in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999. More than 20 people were wounded and 13 killed in one of the darkest days in American history.
Hollye Dexter, a gun control activist, met Castaldo, 37, at a Survivors of Gun Violence event last year in Los Angeles and said she noticed he was ill.
‘We called 911. We has him taken to the hospital. He was very sick with a MRSA infection which is life threatening,’ she told CBS this week.
Hollye Dexter, a gun control activist, met Castaldo at an event last year in Los Angeles and said she noticed he was ill (pictured: Castaldo at the nursing facility)
Richard Castaldo was shot outside his high school in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999 (pictured: at a press event on his release from hospital). Dexter said: ‘I just see that picture of him as a 17-year-old with braces, and I just think, “How did we fail him?” Here he is, 20 years later, and we failed him as a society. And it breaks my heart.’
After spending a few weeks in intensive care Castaldo was moved to a nursing home where he has been for the last five months with nowhere else to go.
Castaldo, who moved to Los Angeles to work in sound engineering, lost his home in the 2012 housing crisis. He moved to an apartment but was evicted after failing to pay the rent.
‘They can’t release him because he’s homeless — because Richard was evicted last year – he can’t pay his rent.’ Dexter told 9News.
‘I asked what the intake paperwork said, and it just said “homeless man.” And I just get so choked up thinking about it.
‘I just see that picture of him as a 17-year-old with braces, and I just think, “How did we fail him?” Here he is, 20 years later, and we failed him as a society. And it breaks my heart.’
Dexter is trying to raise funds for Castaldo and find him somewhere to live so he can be released.
However, she worries that donations could interfere with his disability benefits so instead is asking for advice via email at [email protected].
Columbine massacre survivor Richard Castaldo attends at March For Our Lives Los Angeles on March 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California
Around 11.20am on April 20, 1990, Castaldo and his friend Rachel Scott were sitting outside Columbine High School eating lunch together near the west entrance of the school when two of their fellow students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, opened fire on them.
Castaldo was hit with eight separate bullets, one of which lodged in his spine, paralyzing him from the chest down.
Scott was shot four times, once in the head, and died instantly.
In total, 12 students and one teacher were killed in the Columbine shootings, and 21 students – including Castaldo – were injured.
CCTV footage shows Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold (right) on tape during their shooting spree. Witness accounts said the killers were laughing and having fun
In total, 12 students and one teacher were killed in the Columbine shootings, and 21 students – including Castaldo – were injured.
Both Harris and Klebold committed suicide following the shootings.
The family of Mr Castaldo filed lawsuits in August of 2000 against the parents of Harris and Klebold as well as those who sold guns to the killers. The families of several other victims were also part of the lawsuit.
After a bitter legal dispute lasting more than a year, Mr Castaldo and around 30 other victims’ families received a collective $2.85million settlement.