Following the tragic shooting that took place in Texas last week, seniors at Santa Fe High School have been offered free tickets to Thursday night’s Game 5 Western Conference Finals by Houston Rockets owner and billionaire Tilman Fertitta.
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Ten people were killed last Friday when a gunman entered the school and opened fire on staff and students. Fertitta, who is Chairman, CEO and sole owner of Landry’s, Inc., is originally from Galveston County, where the tragic shooting took place.
Along with the Houston Rockets & Landry’s family, I am heartbroken for these innocent lives that were lost in Santa Fe today. My roots are in Galveston & we have many employees, friends & family in Galveston County which includes Santa Fe. There are just no words. pic.twitter.com/j9wildtiqH
— Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) May 18, 2018
“I have roots in Galveston County. Everybody knows that. I played on that football field before in Santa Fe,” Fertitta revealed in an interview following the shooting. “We just wanted to step up and I talked to Tad (Brown) and said, ‘Hey, we need to find 300 tickets for the Santa Fe High School seniors on Thursday.'”
.@TilmanJFertitta on #Rockets plans to honor the victims of the Santa Fe shooting tragedy pregame of game 5 of the Western Conference Finals Thursday at Toyota Center: "We're just trying to do our little piece to make it special for all these special people in Galveston County" pic.twitter.com/as81hd5ypE
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) May 23, 2018
The school sent a letter to seniors Tuesday letting them know about Fertitta’s generous invitation.
“It is our hope at Santa Fe High School that this will provide our graduating seniors with an evening to gather with friends who have reached the milestone of graduating together,” the letter stated.
“We’re going to bring all the seniors out on the court and recognize them. There’s gonna be a tribute video to the deceased, and we’re going to bring some of the first responders out, and just make it a special night,” Fertitta told Click 2 Houston. “We’re just trying to do our little bit that’s all. Just trying to make a special day where 30 years from now they think about going to that Western Conference final game instead of what they had to go through their last few days of being a senior.”
Fertitta hopes that seniors at the grief-stricken school will jump at the chance to attend the game.
“You gotta remember. The freshmen, the sophomores, the juniors get to go back and have some decent times the rest of their high school career. For the seniors, this is their moment,” the businessman said.
(H/T: Click 2 Houston)