'Hearts Full of Joy': Uber Shooting Victim Off Life Support

KALAMAZOO, MI – A gravely injured 14-year-old, one of eight people an Uber driver allegedly shot during a Feb. 20 rampage across Kalamazoo, is breathing on her own after she was taken off life support Sunday.

The family of Abigail Kopf posted on a crowdfunding site that she wiped her own face with a towel.

“Our hearts are full of joy right now as we celebrate a milestone for Abbie,” the family wrote. “The tube is out she’s breathing on her own. And she wiped her own face with a towel! Bless you all and we have so much gratitude for your support.”

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According to the GoFundMe site set up by family Martha Thawnghmung, Kopf squeezed her mother’s hand last weekend as doctors were talking to the family about organ donation.

About $21,000 had been raised by Monday morning to help the family deal with unexpected medical expenses.

Kopf was the sole survivor in car parked outside the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township last weekend when Jason Brian Dalton, 45, of Kalamazoo, allegedly opened fire.

Killed were Kopf’s grandmother, Barbara Hawthorne, 68, and two of her friends, Mary Jo Nye, 60, and Judy Brown, 74, all of Battle Creek.

The random shooting incidents began around 6 p.m. at an apartment complex. The second shooting occurred at a Kia dealership around 10 p.m., and about 15 minutes later, Dalton allegedly fired on the car in which Kopf was a passenger at the Cracker Barrel.

All three incidents took place in parking lots.

Dalton, a former insurance adjuster with a clean criminal record, reportedly picked up fares between shootings. He was arraigned Monday on six counts of open murder, two counts of felony firearm.

You can give to the family below.