Students plan March For Our Lives as news hits of another school shooting

March 21, 2018 12:36 AM

Drew Reeves

Posted: March 21, 2018 12:36 AM

Updated: May 14, 2021 2:15 PM

by Drew Reeves

SPOKANE, Wash. — As news of another school shooting hits, students in Spokane are finalizing the details for a protest this weekend against gun violence.

Spokane will be among more than 800 cities joining Washington D.C. and the students of Parkland for the March For Our Lives. The march will take place Saturday.

Tuesday, another school shooting occurred, this time in Maryland. The student gunman is dead, while two classmates are wounded, one of them critically.

Organizers of Spokane’s march say this is something students all around the country have to worry about on a daily basis.

“It truly scares me that I have to go to school thinking that it’s possible that I could be a shooting victim,” said Devon Maxfield, one of the Spokane march organizers.

Many people may think a school shooting will never happen in their town, but Spokane knows different. It’s been six months since the shooting at Freeman High School.

Students in our area say they want and end to the fear they face.

“Always when we go into lockdowns my heart… I just get anxiety, because I never know what’s going on, even if it’s a drill. I just think ‘oh my gosh, we’re next, we’re next,'” said Maxfield.

So, this weekend they will march against gun violence. Students say the goal of the March For Our Lives is to advocate for changes to gun laws, including tougher background checks and age restrictions on buying rifles. They would also like to see politicians stop accepting money from the NRA.

The event will feature several speakers who have been affected by gun violence. Spokane will hear from Alejo Moreno, who moved to Spokane from California in the 90s. He says multiple members of his family have been shot by illegal weapons, including himself during a carjacking.

“By the grace of God, I was able to, before he pulled the trigger, pull the gun off my head and it actually ended up blowing my finger off, but that was versus my head,” Moreno said.

He says he’s now ready to stand with our students and hopes to make a change to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

Students organizing the march say they just hope to see a lot of support from the community.

“I hope to see lots of students, teachers, parents in support of a safer environment for schools,” Maxfield said.

The March For Our Lives will be held Saturday, March 24 at 12 p.m. in Riverfront Park.