The multifamily industry is coming to the aid of two Preiss Co. employees who were caught in the crossfire of a shooting last week in downtown San Diego while they were in town to attend the country's biggest apartment industry convention.
Lane Sheer and Toni Yrlas, who were in the Southern California city to visit the National Apartment Association's Apartmentalize conference, "were shot after an unrelated altercation broke out on the street near them," according to Adam Byrley, chief operating officer of Preiss, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based student housing firm.
Byrley has launched a GoFundMe effort to raise money for Sheer and Yrlas to help cover their mounting medical bills. The effort had raised more than $130,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, easily eclipsing the fundraiser's goal of $75,000.
The shootings occurred Friday night in the city's bustling Gaslamp Quarter at an industry party that started after the formal Apartmentalize show ended. San Diego police said one of the women was shot in the upper body and the other in the hand.
"We are so grateful that both Lane and Toni are going to survive, but the recovery process is going to be extensive," Byrley wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Lane and Toni will need support for surgeries, transport, rehabilitation, and other medical expenses as they recover from this horrific incident."
NAA President and CEO Robert Pinnegar said the group's leadership is aware of the incident, even though it happened after the end of the conference, and "is conferring with our state and local associations to best determine how we can assist the victims."