Neighbor raises nearly €70,000 for Utrecht shooting victim's funeral

The neighbor of 19-year-old Roos Verschuur, one of three people killed in a shooting on 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht on Monday, launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the young woman's funeral. Within a day nearly 70 thousand euros was donated. While nothing will bring Roos back, neighbor Martje Beniest wants to do what she can to make things easier for Roos's father, she said to RTL Nieuws.

"She was happy, cheerful, open, sweet. And also a bit crazy", Beniest said to the broadcaster.

Roos lived with her father in Vianen. "My neighbor does not have a lot. I know everything that comes with a funeral. I want to help him so that he doesn't get any more financial problems", she said. "Roos was his everything, the apple of his eye. This is something I had to do for him. I hope that he can focus more on mourning. He must and should be sad. He must not worry about the cents. So he can say goodbye without worry."

The crowdfunding campaign was launched on Tuesday afternoon with the goal to raise a thousand euros. By 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, it already raised 67.671 euros. 

"I did this in consultation with him", Beniest told RTL. "Of course he wanted to do it on his own as a father, but that's not possible."