PARKLAND, Fla. — Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo fought back tears as he spoke at a Florida vigil for the 17 victims killed in a shooting at his former high school, saying we’re going to be “a bit broken for a while.”

Rizzo left spring training Thursday for his hometown of Parkland. He is a 2007 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a site now swarmed by grieving students and makeshift memorials.

“I went to Stoneman Douglas. I grew up at Stoneman Douglas, I played on those fields, I went to those classes, I studied in those classrooms, “ he said Thursday, his voice breaking as many in the audience of more than 1,000 were heard crying.

He noted that he is “a Parklander for life,” and promised “whatever comfort I can give.”

His parents still live in the area. In November, Rizzo donated $150,000 to his alma mater to help toward lights for the baseball and softball fields.

“We get horrified that this violence is inflicted on our kids, we get angry that there’s nothing we can do and nothing is done about it and then we ultimately get immune and move on to something else,” Rizzo said. “But then it happens in our own town ... and we realize it could happen to us.”