Vallejo Shooting Victim Recovering As Lawmakers Approve Fund To Stop Attacks On Asians
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- An Asian shop owner who was shot during an armed robbery is showing incredible resilience. As he is recovering, the recent spate of crimes against Asians in the Bay Area now has the attention of lawmakers who want to document the attacks.
Marc Quidit's family shared a video showing the remarkable progress he's made in just a few days. He's now walking up to 100 feet with the help of a walker.
Last week, the family had feared he would never walk again.
Now he's expected to make a full recovery in two months. The family prayed over him after he came home from the hospital Sunday night.
"Despite the circumstances that he's in, he's still remaining positive and just has high spirits," said Quidit's niece Joanne Pomares.
The father of three was shot 5 times in the lower part of his body in a terrifying armed robbery at his Vallejo store, Dollar Plus and Party Supply, on Feb. 16.
Surveillance video shows Quidit vaccuming when he was shot. His sister was working behind the register.
"As far as everything goes, everyone's just a bit shaken up," said Pomares.
A GoFundMe page set up by Pomares has raised more than $80,000 to help with Quidit's medical expenses, something she says her uncle was worried about after being airlifted to the hospital.
"Every time I'm like 'hey have you seen the GoFundMe, this is all the people that love you,' and he gets so emotional about it every time he brings it up, and even myself, I'm getting emotional just thinking about it," she added.
The emotions come at a time when attacks against Asians are on the rise. Though Quidit's family does not know whether they were targeted, the pattern of violence has prompted lawmakers to demand action.
"I think this is really about our community, the Asian American community standing up and saying no to hate," said Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).
Assemblymember Ting helped secure and include an allocation of $1.4 million in a budget bill to help the STOP AAPI HATE collaborative. The online reporting center tracks hate incidents and crimes against Asians. Since the pandemic began, more than 2,800 reports have been collected. Many more go unreported.
"We thought it's very appropriate to work with these organizations to do better tracking to ensure that there's better data so that we can report on it," added Ting.
He said having the data helps the community document the extent of the problem. The funding will also go toward outreach - getting the word out that the hate reporting center exists, so more victims come forward.
The measure still needs to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.