PHOENIX -- Gun violence used to feel like a distant problem to Christian Yelich. Then it hit close to home in November 2018, when a gunman killed 12 patrons at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., only a few miles from where Yelich grew up. Fifteen months later, tragedy has struck Yelich’s second home, as well.

When Yelich and the Brewers gathered as a group with home-grown manager Craig Counsell on Thursday morning for their daily team meeting, they talked about Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Molson Coors Brewery in Milwaukee, which neighbors Miller Park. A gunman killed five people before taking his own life.

“It’s a sad, tragic event,” Yelich said. “A lot of people’s lives were affected. Just from being there the last couple of years, you realize what a tight-knit community it is, and it’s the last thing you would expect. I guess any time these things happen, you don’t really expect it, especially in a place like Milwaukee.”

Yelich said news of the event trickled into the clubhouse via social media as details emerged Wednesday, and he was already having conversations with teammates about what players could do to respond. In the wake of the dual tragedies of the Thousand Oaks shooting and wildfires in Southern California in the fall of 2018, Yelich and Ryan Braun helped found California Strong, which has raised and distributed funds to impacted families.

On Wednesday, Yelich Tweeted his condolences along with an image of Milwaukee’s unofficial civic flag and the phrase, “Milwaukee Strong.”

“The Borderline [bar] one happened pretty close to where I grew up two offseasons ago, and you realize the trickle-down effect of it,” Yelich said. “Yeah, it’s going to get headlines in the next week or so, and then something else happens and everyone will move on. But the people who were affected, they have to deal with that for the rest of their life, you know? From getting to know a couple of the families that were affected by the Borderline shooting, you realize how long that affects somebody. It’s a lifetime thing, right? Their lives were changed forever yesterday.

“That’s what’s so sad about it. Somebody went to work trying to make a living, and they end up dying at work. That’s the saddest part about it. They didn’t deserve that. They were just trying to make a living, just like we are here.”

Yelich has some thoughts about what should be done to stem the violence, but he opted to keep those to himself on Thursday. He said his focus was on the victims and their families and loved ones.

Counsell, who was raised in Milwaukee before playing for the Brewers, working in their front office and then managing the team, was similarly reflective.

“It’s an instance where, man, there’s something wrong,” Counsell said. “We have to think -- personally, I’m just learning I’ve got to do better, and figure out what is my part? I think that’s what we all have to do. What is my part in this? There’s a public safety issue going on, and whether it’s guns, whether it’s mental health, we have to figure out what it is.

“I think it’s a wake-up call for me. I have to do my part, and I think that’s what we all have to think about things like this. In addition to the prayers and the thoughts and the condolences, we have to do our part. That’s how I’m taking it.”

Counsell will do a lot more thinking about what that should entail.

“I don’t have the answers, because it’s a complicated question,” he said. “But what’s happening isn’t complicated, and it should push us all to action. Certainly, research and voting is probably the best way for everybody in this. Do your homework and then vote. That seems to me to be the best course of action that I can come up with right away.”