Hundreds of Milwaukee-area students walk out of class after violent incidents in schools

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WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Hundreds of students across the area staged walkouts on Friday, Dec. 13 to demand change after two shootings in Wisconsin. Students from more than a dozen area schools participated. 

Students at Wauwatosa West High School marched out to the football field and then hit the streets. They held signs saying things like "books not bullets" and chanted things like, "no more silence, no more violence." 

They joined 13 other local schools in walkouts Friday, to get the attention of state lawmakers to change the laws to require universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders. 

At Carmen High School, about 150 students walked out Friday morning -- about half the student body. They marched about three blocks and held a brief rally. 

Last week, a police officer shot a Waukesha South High School student who pointed a pellet gun at him, and an Oshkosh school resource officer shot a student who came at him with a knife. 

At Shorewood High School, a hit list was found last month. One student said he is concerned gun violence could happen at his school. 

"I feel like its an issue when I can't go to school and feel safe," Said Eric Lucas III, student at Shorewood High School. I feel like it's an issue when I go to school and I feel like I've got to bring a bulletproof vest or I want to stay in my bed because I'm scared for my life,  or I don't want to speak to somebody the wrong way cause it's like what if I end up on their list."

At a news conference Friday afternoon, students from a number of schools, including Whitefish Bay and Franklin, said they're fearful to go to school. They're urging state lawmakers to pass gun control measures that they say would make schools safer. 

"We're fearful to go to school. We're tired of hearing a door close and thinking it's a gunshot. We're tired of thinking about which hallways to avoid because they are too long and narrow," said Esther Carriere, Whitefish Bay High School student. 

Students say they're the future of this state and country, and are urging state lawmakers to listen to them. 

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