In response to the mass shooting at The Covenant School on March 27, which left six people dead including three students, thousands of students across 42 states and Washington, D.C. left their classes demanding lawmakers to tighten gun laws.
The walkouts were coordinated by Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country. According to an announcement, more than 300 schools were affected.
“Young people are fed up with lawmakers offering us thoughts and prayers with no action to back it up,” said a volunteer with Students Demand Action in Tennessee, Presley Spiller, in a statement. “We deserve to be safe in our schools, to learn and grow up without having to live in fear of gun violence.”
Research by Everytown suggests there have been at least 39 incidents of gunfire on school grounds so far this year, resulting in 17 deaths and 30 injuries nationally.
As students left their buildings advocating for change, some schools were forced to react. In one instance, students were taken into custody by local authorities in response to a threat.
In Illinois, a coordinated walkout by Highland Park High School students was quickly interrupted by reports of a potential gun on campus, Insider reports. According to a letter from District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law obtained by ABC7 Chicago, the district was given an anonymous tip soon after the walkout began that a student allegedly had possession of a gun.
The scare comes less than a year after the town witnessed a mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade killing seven people.
“After what happened in July, everyone is on high alert here always,” one parent of a Highland Park High School student told ABC7 Chicago. “I got here, and my stomach sank. It was like a flashback to July.”
Five students were taken into custody, Insider reports.
In Uvalde, Texas, students of the Uvalde Independent Consolidated School District left their buildings advocating for the 19 elementary school children and two teachers who lost their lives after the massacre at Robb Elementary School last May.
Ana Rodriguez, one of the parents who lost their child during the shooting, told ABC News she was proud of those who took part in the walkout.
“It means a lot,” she said. “Look at them—look at how many kids are out here. They’re scared for their lives, and they care about what happened here. That means a lot to me that we have so much support from our students.”
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