MOSES LAKE — A group of Moses Lake High School students staged a short walk out on Wednesday in honor of the 17 people killed last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

According to MLHS Principal Jake Long, about 75-100 students walked out of class at 10 a.m. to gather at the flagpole and then began returning to class at 10:17.

“They had a moment of silence to show support for victims and their families,” Long said.

Paige Shearer, a senior at MLHS, said she walked out because she believes it’s time the country does something about school violence.

“I walked out today, because in 1996 my parents were in the room right next to where Barry Loukaitis had killed those innocent people,” Shearer wrote in a text message to the Columbia Basin Herald. “I’m not saying it is a gun problem, it’s a people problem. People need to open their eyes and realize what’s happening around them.”

Shearer wrote that bullying is still a problem in schools, and something needs to be done.

“Kids are being bullied on a daily (basis), we are supposed to be an anti-bully community correct? But we aren’t,” she wrote. “I walked out today to stand for those innocent souls that were killed, because our society is a mess and something needs to happen.”

On Feb. 2, 1996, 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis walked into Frontier Middle School with a rifle and two handguns and killed algebra teacher Leona Caires as well as classmates Arnold Fritz and Manuel Vela.

Last week, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 14 students and three staff members, and wounded 14 others, in a shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He was arrested soon after and has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Shearer, a senior, wrote that the walk-out was organized by students, and took about a day to spread around on social media.

McKenna Reis, a spokesperson for the Moses Lake School District, said the walkout was “in honor of the victims in Florida,” and had nothing to do with gun control.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.