CORPUS CHRISTI — On Saturday, the community gathered for a fundraiser for recovering Corpus Christi police officer Manuel Dominguez, who was shot while responding to a call at a southside apartment complex in early August.
“Initially there was only going to be three pits here or something like that,” CCPD officer James Morales Sr. said. “There’s like six pits here.”
Dozens of cars stopped by The Farm on South Alameda Street and Robert to pick up some barbecue plates for $10 each. All proceeds went to Dominguez and his family.
“People just came and said ‘Hey I want to be a part of this,” Morales said.
On August 5, Dominguez was shot responding to a family disturbance at the Watercolor Apartments on Weber Road. He was rushed to the hospital where he lost his eye.
Morales was off duty at the time.
“There was a lot of emotion and it wasn’t just on me but you could hear the emotion through the radio,” Morales said.
Morales graduated both high school and the police academy with Dominguez.
“He’s not just a friend,” Morales said. “He’s not just a partner at work. He’s like a brother.”
He was just one of many people and business owners who donated their time to help with Saturday’s fundraiser.
Volunteers also hosted a silent and live auction.
The Dominguez family said the city is covering all of his medical expenses, but they are still accepting donations for any extra costs.
“We’re super excited to be able to just serve him the way he’s served us and all of our fellow officers out there and just super excited that he’s home,” volunteer Valeria Levario said.
After only an hour, all 1,000 plates were sold out.
The Dominguez family told KRIS 6 that they are eternally grateful for all the support.
"We would like to thank the organizers of the [barbecue] event held Aug 28, 2021. We feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the efforts of all who got together to organize this event. We appreciate and are thankful for the support from Manuel's friends, the volunteers, the businesses, his brothers and sisters in blue, his family and the community. From a horrific, negative and traumatic event, a positive was seeing the community come together in support of our CCPD senior officer."
“They’re in my prayers everyday and they just need to stay strong and they’ll get there,” retired 911 dispatcher Cheryl Daubs said.
The barbecue plate sale and auctions end at 10 p.m. on Saturday. Those who still want to help but were not able to attend the event can click here.
