Fund set to honor Columbia mall shooting victim

A permanent endowment fund has been established at the Community Foundation of Howard County to honor Tyler Johnson, who was killed during the shooting at the Mall in Columbia in January 2014. Johnson’s parents, Howard and Nora Johnson, chose to establish the permanent fund with donations contributed in their son’s memory to a temporary fund set up at the foundation to receive memorial gifts immediately after his death. The fund has been established for the purpose of supporting nonprofit organizations devoted to addiction therapy, common-sense gun control legislation, mental health issues and other issues of interest to the Johnson family. Johnson spent years volunteering at the Serenity Center in Columbia, where he counseled those challenged by addiction.