Aurora victims upset they have not received any $5million appeal money

Family members of the Colorado theater shooting victims are angry over how the $5 million raised in an appeal has been distributed.

The Washington Post reported that despite the fundraiser “using pictures and names of our murdered loved ones”, the money has gone to non-profit organisations instead of them.

The families also said they’ve been shut out of decisions on how the money should be spent and that fundraisers were unresponsive to their questions and suggestions.

Twelve people were killed and 58 injured in the July 20 shooting which happened during a midtown screening of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises".

Fox News reported that some of the victims' families came forward yesterday, upset that the money was not going to those it was promised to.

“I am certain that the public intended 100 percent of those donations to go to the families of victims," Tom Teves, whose son Alex was killed.

"We are here because we want the public to know what's been going on behind the scenes.

Some victims' families had received $5,000 for bills for medical treatment, travel and other expenses from the attack. 

"We shouldn't have to beg to get a little voice," Teves said.

"They used our children's pictures, our dead children's pictures."

In USA Today, Cheryl Haggstrom, executive vice president of the Community First Foundation, defended how the money was being distributed.

She said when individuals make contributions to Community First, "we make it evident how the funds will be used."

About $100,000 of the $5million raised was given to 10 Aurora-area non-profits on July 26, she said.

After victims' families raised complaints over disbursements on August 17, a second, $350,000 distribution was made to the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA) to help shooting victims and their families. Of that disbursement, COVA provided $5,000 to each to the families of those killed and injurd.