Roybal, 28, was at the festival with his mother, Debby Allen, to celebrate his birthday when a gunman opened fire with an arsenal of weapons rigged to mimic automatic rifles from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay resort, killing 58 people, a release says.
Allen was posting frantically on Facebook at the time of the shooting, sharing that she was safe but could not find her son.
At 11:42 p.m. Sunday, she posted, “I am safe. I just can’t find Christopher Roybal anywhere. He’s not answering anyone’s phone calls.” She commented about an hour later, “God help me.”
A GoFundMe page set up to help Roybal’s family with funeral costs had raised more than $51,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
Roybal, who grew up in Corona, Calif., was a Navy veteran and served in Afghanistan.
“Roybal was known around Crunch Fitness as a friendly team member who had infectious laughter and always a big smile,” the release said.
The memorial will be held 7 p.m. Sunday at Crunch Fitness, 5620 North Academy Boulevard. It will be put on in part by Betty Field, a congressional candidate for District 5.
(c)2017 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
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