North Texas Students Hold Walkouts To Protest Gun Violence

North Texas students held walkouts Friday on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine shooting that left 13 high school students and staff members dead. Thousands of high school students in North Texas and across the nation left their classrooms to draw attention to the impact of gun violence.

With deadly shootings occurring more often, students who fear gun violence are stepping up and demanding change. The North Texas walkouts were part of the National School Walkout, student-led protests following the Parkland, Florida shooting in February. The protests took shape after an armed gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and killed 17 students, teachers and staff members.

Outside Heritage High School in Frisco, four armed men with rifles were spotted near the school. Students tweeted that the men were protesting the walkouts. The Heritage High students held their protest inside the school gym. A video of the protest is posted below.

Frisco police said the men were licensed gun owners and legally permitted to carry the weapons near the school as long as they stayed 500 feet away from campus. "This is why we march," one of the students tweeted. The student walkout organizers said the men were armed with AR-15s. Police said the weapons were long rifles.

The four men left without incident, according to police.

Hillary Shah, a Lone Star High School senior, stood on a tower and addressed more than 260 students who walked out. "I stand out here and say never again," she told the students.

About 40 students gathered at the Arlington High School football field to protest. A handful of students left campus to share their message along Cooper Street.

Keller High School's walkout was canceled by organizers and school officials after a threat was received, dallasnews.com reported.

CAPTION: Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 classmates and teachers were killed during a mass shooting, leave school together for the National School Walkout on April 20, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. Students from around the nation joined in school walkouts against gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado where 13 people were killed. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)