Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Brooks Raley says the shooting in Texas on Tuesday hit very close to home for him ... revealing Wednesday he actually attended Robb Elementary School as a kid growing up in Uvalde.
"I walked those halls," the 33-year-old reliever told media members at his locker. "I can't imagine what they experienced yesterday."
"I walked those halls. I can’t imagine the experience yesterday."
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) May 25, 2022
The shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas hits home for @RaysBaseball pitcher Brooks Raley.
He attended that school and Uvalde HS before moving to College Station. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/AKv4BFBEnK
Raley said he learned that a gunman had killed 19 students and two teachers at the school from family and friends who still live in the city ... and called it all an absolute tragedy.
"Obviously growing up there, going to that school, it kind of hits home," said Raley, whose parents and brother still live in Uvalde. "Having young children myself, you just feel for those families."
"And you pray for them, and your thoughts are with them."
Raley -- who moved out of Uvalde as a teenager to go to college at Texas A&M -- called the community surrounding Robb Elementary "small" and "close-knit" ... and added that he's really feeling for them.
"It hits close to home," he said.