There was another school shooting on Tuesday, this time in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. One student died and eight others were injured during the attack, which was perpetrated by two other students, each of whom were apprehended.
Ahead of the Denver Nuggets' Game 5 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone took some time in his pre-game press conference to address the incident. Malone lives in the area where the shooting happened, though his children do not attend that school.
Malone offered his "thoughts and prayers," but noted that those platitudes are not enough, and called for action to be taken so events like this don't happen again.
Michael Malone opened his pregame presser with a lengthy message on the school shooting in Highlands Ranch today.
— Brandon Ewing (@B_Skip17) May 8, 2019
Really sentimental message from Malone that definitely needs to be heard by all. pic.twitter.com/rDaPHjvEgw
Malone's opening statement:
I just wanted to start off with a quick word. I think we're all aware of what happened down at Highlands Ranch today at the STEM school. That's the community that I live in and I know the thoughts and prayers are never enough but one student was killed, eight were injured today and from myself, our team, our organization, our thoughts and prayers are with all those families, students, school administrators, everybody that was there today. It's a tragedy. The second thing I would like to say is just a thank you to the Douglas County Sheriff's department that was there on top of it in a matter of minutes and all of the first responders that were there, allowing that not to become worse than it was. It's a shame. My girls have been in a lockout twice in the last month. I'm not a politician, I don't have all the answers but something has to change. I just wanted to make sure I acknowledged what happened today in my backyard and all of those families are on my mind.
Malone also offered his thoughts on the difficulty of focusing on an important game after such a tragic event, saying "these are scary times for everybody and you have to find a way to be mentally tough and get through it."
You have a job to do, whether it's performing after losing a four overtime game or finding a way to get your mind back on your job after a tragedy in your own town. For me, yeah, you have a heavy heart and you think about it but I would not do a disservice to our players and our organization and our fans by allowing that to affect how you prepare and how you perform tonight. We have a job to do and these are scary times for everybody and you have to find a way to be mentally tough and get through it.
Malone's full thoughts on the incident were transcribed by Harrison Wind, and are worth reading in full.
