THORNTON, Colo. — A dozen Denver area tattoo shops had one goal in mind on Sunday, to support the families left devastated by the shooting spree that left five people dead. The shooting happened last month and spanned from Denver to Lakewood.
The Dec. 27 shooting broke hearts throughout the tattoo industry in the Denver metro area. Three of the targeted locations were tattoo shops.
"When tragedy hits, it's pretty scary knowing it can happen anywhere," Marty Sandoval, the owner of Modified Madness Tattoo, said. "There's so much evil in this world, it's nice to have the good."
Sandoval and his wife, Stevi Miller, coordinated the United in Art, Doing our Part fundraiser.
"We have about 12 tattoo shops all across Colorado from Delta to right here in Thornton. We are all tattooing different designs. Some of them were created by Danny Scofield, some were created by Sarah Steck the hotel clerk," she explained. "All of the proceeds are being donated to the Colorado Healing Fund to help out all the victims that were affected."
Alicia Cardenas, Danny Scofield and Sarah Steck were all victims last month but through other people's hands, their work was being shared.
"For me it’s a way to kind of deal with what happened," Chad Howard said as he sat and got his tattoo. "I've gotten tattoos at Soul Tribe. I got both of these arm pieces there so it's scary to think that I've been in one of those chairs sitting for hours in a session and something like that could have happened."
Howard said getting a tattoo on Sunday was his way to give back. For fellow tattoo lover Robert Ring, it was a second chance to connect with Danny Scofield.
"He was my cousin," Ring said. "He was supposed to do my next piece on my arm for me. It's kind of an emotional experience, I guess you could say."
Ring knows the experience won't bring his cousin back, but he and Sandoval hope opening a new wound helps heal another.
Modified Madness in Thornton will be open until 10:00pm Sunday. They created a map of the participating shops.
RELATED: 4 Colorado lawmakers ask for investigation into law enforcement handling of shooting spree suspect
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS