Chicago Cubs star first baseman Anthony Rizzo is an alumnus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — the site of Wednesday’s mass shooting that left 17 dead and many more injured. Rizzo graduated in 2007 from the school and made his way back on Thursday for a vigil in the Parkland Amphitheater. Rizzo was among two dozen other speaks at the event, leaving the Cubs’ spring training home in Arizona to attend the event and share his words about the tragedy on Wednesday and his feelings for the community according to ESPN:
“I come home to Parkland to what should be everybody’s first concern, and that’s showing our kids out there — the students at Stoneman Douglas and of Broward County and from all over the country — that we care about their lives and about their future,” Rizzo said. “I’ve been very impressed with talking to the students and how they’re taking care of each other and how they’re coming together. I’m so grateful to the teachers, the coaches, the administration and all the first responders that tried to protect them.”
Anthony Rizzo of the @Cubs delivers an emotional speech at the vigil for the school shooting victims in Parkland, Florida. https://t.co/EyiWMnOzoZ @ARizzo44 pic.twitter.com/lIQM6lbH48
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) February 16, 2018
Rizzo also made sure to share his bond with the community and call for some sort of action to be taken without seeming to take a firm stance on one side or another:
“I’m a baseball player, but I’m also an American, I’m a Floridian, and I’m a Parklander for life.”
“While I don’t have all the answers, I know that something has to change before this is visited by another community and another community and another community.”
Rizzo also showed support to others in attendance according to Deadspin, standing several times for applause when “Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and others made impassioned pleas for ‘common sense gun laws.’”
