FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) — Mesa Ridge High School students organized a walkout to demand safer schools after two students were arrested for bringing weapons to campus last week.
El Paso County Sheriff's deputies arrested two students, saying one had a handgun and the other had an air soft gun. Students had to stay in their classrooms while deputies investigated the incident.
"I have never seen someone throw a desk against a door so fast and it is unfortunate that that is the world we live in," said Anime Hargis, a junior at Mesa Ridge High School.
The incident left students shaken and determined to take action.
"I've had to deal with gun threats several times in my life, but this was the closest we've ever gotten, and we should never get that close. There should never be a weapon in our school," high school senior, Marz Felch, said.
The lock down prompted students to organize the walkout with a clear goal: to make schools safer.
"A lot of the time we hear about school shootings so often that we expect our generation to just normalize it and be desensitized to it, and that's not okay," said junior Nahlia Zunk, "school shootings are not something that should be normal. We should not have to be afraid to go to school and learn."
The protest also follows a school shooting at Evergreen High School west of Denver last Wednesday.
___
Massive search effort underway in Colorado for 2 missing hunters
For several days, a search effort has been underway for two missing hunters in southern Colorado. According to the Conejos County Sheriff's office, they responded to the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead to make contact with two people who were reported overdue while elk hunting on Sept. 13.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
