SEATTLE — A fundraiser has been set up by friends and family members of Nikolas “Niko” Fernandez, the man who police say drove into a crowd of protesters in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and shot 27-year-old Daniel Gregory in the shoulder Sunday night.
Gregory was released Tuesday night from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
According to court records, Fernandez remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Supporters of Fernandez and Gregory have given different accounts to KIRO 7 of what led up to Sunday night’s shooting as the investigation continues.
Dino Gregory told KIRO 7’s Deborah Horne on Monday that his brother Daniel is a hero.
"I mean what he did (Sunday) was so selfless,” Dino said. “And what he did a lot of people wouldn't have done. He saved hundreds of lives while putting his own life in danger."
Supporters of Fernandez told KIRO 7 on Tuesday that he was the victim of a mob and was forced to defend himself.
Fernandez told Seattle police he reached for his gun and shot Gregory in the shoulder, thinking he was a carjacker.
“Mr. Fernandez was on his way to work,” his lawyer told a judge Monday. “And (he) got caught going the wrong way down a one-way street, in the chaos and sort of panicked.”
As of Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., the fundraiser for Fernandez had raised $24,867 of a $60,000 goal.
Organizers said the donations are made “in support of fair trial and right to self-defense goes towards legal defense fees, bail & investigative costs.”
A GoFundMe for Gregory had raised $229,683 of a $60,000 goal as of Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Officials said the donations will help cover his medical bills and “whatever extra there is after medical bills Dan gets to keep for himself.”
© 2020 Cox Media Group
