Students raise funds for family of crossing guard killed in subway shooting

Heartbroken students at a Manhattan school paid tribute to a beloved crossing guard, who was senselessly shot to death on a Brooklyn subway train after breaking up a fight — calling him a “hero” on a fundraising website for his family that raised more than $31,000 as of Tuesday.

Students at Avenues The World School flooded the page with memories of Richard Henderson, 45, who was killed Sunday at the Franklin Avenue station in Crown Heights.

Henderson, a father of three and grandfather to two young girls, “was not only a guardian at the crosswalks of the school where he tirelessly worked; Rich was a guardian to all those lucky enough to know him,” the verified fundraising campaign page reads.

“Richard’s life was a mosaic of selflessness and dedication,” they continued. “For over a decade, he served as a crossing guard, shepherding young lives safely, a role that mirrored his innate desire to protect and care for those around him.”

Both students at the Upper West Side campus where he worked and Henderson’s family remembered him as a peaceful man always willing to help others — even until the end when he intervened in an argument over loud music playing on a Manhattan-bound 3 train and was fatally shot.

Tenth grader Leo Prince, who started the fundraiser, told The Post over email that students “adored” Henderson and are now grappling with what he described as a “huge loss for the whole community.”

“I’m hopeful that people in my school community, Rich’s community, and just people that care about such a tragedy, end up giving,” Prince said Monday night. “When we created the GoFundMe, we set a goal of 10K. We are now at 12K. We’ve been using Instagram and Snapchat to get the word out.”

By Tuesday morning,12 hours after its creation, the fundraiser was more than halfway to a new goal of $40,000.

Students and associates also shared memories on the page, recalling him as an easygoing crossing guard with the “biggest most beautiful heart” in the comments.

“I first met Rich when I was around 7 years old, more than 10 years ago. I only remember him as someone I constantly looked up to and someone I could easily talk to. My favorite memories of him include when he would play with us at the park,” Izzy Genin wrote on the fundraiser.

“Rich had the biggest most beautiful heart, and anyone who knew him knew that about him. He may be gone but he is definitely not forgotten.”

Jessie Randall, the designer of Loeffler Randall, paid tribute to Henderson on her Instagram stories, writing, “This very special man was a beloved crossing guard at my sons’ school.”

“I hate guns so much. Life is so unfair. Someone so kind senselessly murdered” she added alongside a photograph of Henderson hugging a young boy.

Another former student of Henderson’s, Mya Cahana, said she’d known the beloved school staffer since she was 8 and first started at Avenues.

“I wore a Seahawks beanie every day that winter, and since then he always called me Ms. Seattle,” Cahana wrote on the fundraiser.

“I can’t believe Friday was the last time I would ever see him. He was such a good person.”