Houston teams, athletes offer support after school shooting

Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul, right, watches from the sidelines during the first half in Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz, Tuesday, May 8, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

HOUSTON — Rockets star Chris Paul is among many in the Houston sports world offering condolences to the families affected by an area school shooting that left 10 people dead.

Paul says: “It’s tough, man. It’s scary that that’s become the norm here. We’ve got to do something about it.”

The shooting in Santa Fe, which is about 30 miles from downtown Houston, comes after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February.

Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who has two school-aged daughters and was with the Astros at training camp in Florida at the time of the Marjory Stoneman shooting, expressed anger that these shootings continue to occur.

He says: “It’s heartbreaking, another senseless act of violence in our schools. We’ll copy/paste this answer for the next time something happens because we feel like there’s something happening on a routine basis that’s idiotic and terrible and miserable. I hope we can somehow find a way to get past it for one, offer our condolences to the people affected and more importantly figure out a way to stop this madness.”

The Astros issued a statement Friday offering prayers to those affected by the shooting. They added that they’d hold a moment of silence in their honor before Friday night’s game against Cleveland and that the Texas flags at Minute Maid Park would be flown at half-staff.

Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, who said he is working on a plan to help a student who was among the 10 people wounded in the attack, says something has to change to stop this from happening again.

He says: “I just feel like there’s got to be some sort of solution. My heart goes out to the families and the kids who shouldn’t even have to worry about something like that.”

The Houston Texans also issued a statement sending condolences to the victims and thanking first responders and law enforcement who helped in the wake of the attack.