ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A community immediately stepped in to help two teenagers left orphaned after their father was gunned down by a disgruntled former employee at an Orange County business.
Kevin Clark, 53, was one of five people killed at Fiamma Inc. when gunman John Neumann Jr., 45, stormed into the business and opened fire before shooting himself, deputies said.
When Aida Campbell heard about Monday’s shooting, two questions popped into her mind.
“How do we help the family? What do we do?” she said.
She and cheerleading coach Robin Neill got a couple of other parents together to take care of Clark’s children until family arrived from out of town.
Campbell is the president of Lake Howell Pop Warner in Oviedo.
She was at home with her children and other girls from the Lake Howell pop Warner cheerleading team when she found out Clark was one of the people killed.
Kevin Clark Memorial Fund The Lake Howell Pop Warner family is asking for your support to assist Delaney and Gavin...
Posted by Lake Howell Pop Warner on Monday, June 5, 2017
“They were crying, obviously, (and asking) ‘Is this going to happen? Why does it keep happening?’” said Campbell. “How do you explain that to them when you don’t even know yourself?”
Many of the girls knew Clark’s 14-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son.
Clark’s two children spent nearly a decade with Lake Howell. Neill coached Clark’s daughter for seven years.
She was with Clark’s daughter when she got the call her dad was gone.
“She thought it was a prank, and then they asked to speak to an adult,” said Campbell.
Clark’s two children spent nearly a decade with Lake Howell.%
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His son played football and his daughter was a cheerleader.
“Any time the kids needed him, any time any of us needed him,” Neill said. “We always called him the best cheer dad. He was always there.”
Campbell said Clark constantly made time for his children.
“He was wonderful. He was kind. He was always there,” she said. “He’s that dad who wanted to learn how to do the French braid. He wanted to learn how to do the ponytail so she wasn’t left out.”
Clark was a single dad and had celebrated his son’s high school graduation the night before the shooting.
Aida Campbell and Robin Neill knew #ForsythShooting victim Kevin Clark. On #WFTVat530, what they're doing to help his children cope. #WFTV pic.twitter.com/dOxGiE8Z6g
— Mike Manzoni NBC10 Boston (@MikeNBCBoston) June 6, 2017
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