"It hurts us to admit this but it has come a point where we will not be able to survive without help," owner Kurt Geissel said. "We are asking our friends to help us keep going and to get the word out to anyone who may be interested in contributing to the cause."
Café Racer, the University District coffee shop where four people were killed in a shooting spree four years ago, is reaching out for support in the face of what the owner called “dire” financial circumstances.
The Seattle shop, where a man with a long history of mental-health issues opened fire, killing four, has been living on “Cafe Racer Love,” according to a post on a recently launched GoFundMe campaign. “But sadly we cannot live on the love alone.”
Customers, neighbors and residents rallied around the coffee shop in the wake of the May 30, 2012, shooting spree that left one person injured and killed Joseph “Meshuguna Joe” Albanese, 52; Andrew “Schmootzi the Clod” Keriakedes, 49; Kimberly Lynn Layfield, 36; and Donald Largen, 57.
The shooter, Ian Stawicki, then killed Gloria Leonidas, 52, at a downtown parking lot before stealing her car. He killed himself in West Seattle later that day as police closed in on him.
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But according to the owner, Kurt Geissel, debt incurred while refitting and re-permitting the building along with the ongoing construction on Roosevelt Way Northeast has left the business crippled.
“It hurts us to admit this, but it has come a point where we will not be able to survive without help,” he said. “We are asking our friends to help us keep going and to get the word out to anyone who may be interested in contributing to the cause.”
By Monday morning, the cafe had raised more than $19,000 of the $50,000 sought.