Story by
For Bruins defenseman, who grew up in Parkland, Fla., Pawtucket shooting hits home
- Story by
- For Bruins defenseman, who grew up in Parkland, Fla., Pawtucket shooting hits home
BOSTON — Andrew Peeke didn’t know anyone who was at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, when the deadly shooting occurred there on Monday afternoon.
But the location and the nature of the circumstances were uncomfortably familiar for the Bruins defenseman. Two people were killed and three were injured, when a person opened fire during a game between two local high schools.
Advertisement
As a hockey player, Peeke has spent countless hours around similar rinks. As a prep school player at the South Kent School in Connecticut, he played games just down the road against Mount St. Charles in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
More notably, Peeke is from Parkland, Florida, the site of one of the worst school shootings in American history.
Because of the lack of hockey opportunities in Florida, Peeke left the state as a teenager. First to attend South Kent in Connecticut and eventually to play junior hockey for Green Bay in the USHL. He earned a scholarship to Notre Dame and was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets .
He was on campus at Notre Dame on Feb. 14, 2018, when 18 kids were killed by a shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Advertisement
Later that summer at Blue Jackets development camp, he told the Columbus Dispatch that as he watched the coverage of the tragedy on TV, when the news helicopters showed the wide-angle scenes from above the area around the school, he could sometimes see the house where he grew up.
The part of the school where 18 kids were killed that day has since been demolished. But Peeke said it’s impossible not to think of what happened when he’s visiting his family and drives past it.
“It’s a mile away from home. That’s about as sad as it could be. It’s a small town. Families know people that were involved,” he said. “There’s a lot of days you drive by where the building was. It’s super sad.”
His heart went out to people in Pawtucket and Rhode Island when he heard the news on Monday.
Advertisement
“You know the hockey community, the type of people that are going to watch a game like that,” he said. “People going to watch their kids or their friends, going to have a good time. It’s really heartbreaking.
“It is scary. I don’t know the perfect words for it, but it’s super scary,” he continued. “Whether it’s a hockey rink or a baseball field, or anywhere.”
It’s been eight years since Parkland, but Monday’s shooting in Pawtucket, like so many others, brought it front of mind.
“It hits home. It adds a little bit more and reminds you of the past,” he said. “I was gone, at college, but my buddies were still there. It’s super sad.”
Advertisement
More Bruins content
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
