Brantley Gilbert Launches Campaign to Raise Money For Waffle House Shooting Hero and Victims

Brantley Gilbert is stepping up to help the victims of the tragic Waffle House shooting just outside of Nashville on Sunday, April 22, along with honoring the hero, James Shaw, Jr. Gilbert teamed up with Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba, and Gilbert's manager, Rich Egan, who heads the I Believe in Nashville coalition.

Together, the men created a t-shirt that says, "I Believe in Heroes," with a graphic of Shaw's bandaged hand. Shaw was grazed by a bullet, and also injured as he wrestled the gun away from the shooter, Travis Reinking.

Shaw was at Waffle House with his friend, Brennan McMurray, when Reinking, after shooting two people in the parking lot, began shooting inside the restaurant.

"I'm a believer that bad people do bad things," Gilbert says (quote via Nashville's Tennessean). "And I hope that if I can't be around and something like that does happen (in my son, Barrett's life), I hope somebody like James or Brennan is around. I feel like that's what we've got right now is hope, and prayer has always gone a long way for me. At the end of the day, you just hope you've got heroes."

Shaw, who has previously said he's not a hero, wants his actions to inspire others.

"If I say a regular guy took a gun from somebody, I hope you can find that same fire within yourself that you can possibly emulate that," says Shaw. "Anybody can be a hero."

Gilbert, who is currently headlining his The Ones That Like Me Tour, is thrilled that he can focus attention on someone else instead of himself.

"When it's not about me, that's when I'm happiest." Gilbert says. "More than that, when it's about somebody who was brave, and we can honor them a little, that's when it's really good."

The shirt, along with I Believe in Nashville shirts, will be sold at Gilbert's May 4 Nashville concert at Ascend Amphitheater, and Dashboard Confessional's May 11 Ryman show. Proceeds from the sale of the I Believe in Heroes shirt, as well as I Believe in Nashville shirts, will go to benefit Shaw and the victims of the Waffle House shooting. The shirts can also be purchased at ibelieveinnashville.com.

Shaw started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the victims, which has already raised more than $155,000. A GoFundMe account for Shaw has also been created, with the goal of creating a college account for his daughter, which has raised over $166,000.

Photo Credit: BMLG/Trevor Forbess