A California firefighters union has been slammed after offering an AR-15 as the main raffle prize at a benefit on Saturday evening.
The Cameron Park Firefighters Association was hosting their annual crab feed where they put a number of items up for auction.
Some attendees walked out after they saw the association was auctioning of an AR-15 rifle, the type of weapon allegedly used on Wednesday by Nikolas Cruz in the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
The Cameron Park Firefighters Association in California has been slammed after offering an AR-15 as the main raffle prize at a benefit on Saturday evening (pictured)
Some attendees walked out after seeing that the weapon (pictured) being auctioned off was the same type of weapon allegedly used on Wednesday by Nikolas Cruz in the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead
A spokesman said the winning bidder will still have to pass a background check before taking ownership of the weapon and added that these types of rifles are raffled off each year at the fundraiser, including the one above
According to El Dorado Hills resident Allison Merrill, who walked out: ‘When we walked out, the flag was at half-mast in front of the community center (pictured) and it was just so striking how tone-deaf the whole event was’
El Dorado Hills resident Allison Merrill and several friends walked out of the event in protest, saying the timing was insensitive.
‘When we walked out, the flag was at half-mast in front of the community center and it was just so striking how tone-deaf the whole event was,’ she told the Sacramento Bee.
‘We walk out and there’s the flag at half-mast for all those kids.’
The annual fundraising event for the association includes a raffle and a silent auction, and donated guns have been up for raffle or bid in past years, officials said.
This year’s event included the Faxon Firearms ‘custom lightweight AR-15 rifle’ with tickets priced at $40.
Nikolas Cruz, 19 (pictured) used the assault rifle to kill 17 and injure more than a dozen in a shooting last Wednesday at his old high school.
Many of the other items for raffle were much more standard prizes including wine, spa treatments and dinner gift cards, said Nancy Lugo, another resident who walked out.
‘I was devastated. I felt ill. I felt I couldn’t stay and support the event any longer’ she told CBS Sacramento.
‘It hadn’t even been a week, the families were still grieving, and we are seeing that same type of weapon being offered as a prize.
The Cameron Park Fire Department is under contract with Cal Fire.
Deputy chief and spokesman for CalFire Scott McLane said the auction was planned before the carnage that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The gun was taken to a gun store for the 10-day waiting period and that the winning bidder will still have to pass a background check before taking ownership of the weapon, he said.
McLane added that these types of rifles are raffled off each year at this fundraiser. Two other semi-automatic guns also were part of this year’s raffle.
Cruz was able to buy the weapon despite having a history of violence and questionable mental health. This photo, posted on Cruz’s Instagram account, shows a weapon being held
Cruz is now in custody and has been arraigned on 17 first-degree murder charges (Pictured, students flee Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday as the shooting occurs)
A senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School weeps in front of a cross and Star of David for shooting victim Meadow Pollack while a fellow classmate consoles her at a memorial by the school on Sunday
Nikolas Cruz used the assault rifle to kill 17 and injure more than a dozen in a shooting last Wednesday at his old high school.
He was able to buy the weapon despite having a history of violence and questionable mental health.
Authorities say that Cruz was so dangerous that he was not allowed to bring a book bag to school.
He is now in custody and has been arraigned on 17 first-degree murder charges.