More than 500,000 people are expected to go downtown DC for the March for Our Lives Saturday, but ahead of we heard the stories from school shooting survivors -- including those from Virginia Tech, Columbine, Parkland and Great Mills.
At the March For Our Lives Town Hall hosted by WUSA9's Bruce Johnson, Reese Waters and Ellen Bryan, law enforcement and school officials came together with student activists and shooting survivors to talk about what would keep children safe in schools.
Mollie Davis, of Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County, talked about how students are coping after a shooting at their school on Tuesday. It left 16-year-old Jaelynn Wiley dead.
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Other survivors from Virginia Tech, Parkland and even Columbine shared their stories with the crowd.
Salli Garrigan, a Columbine shooting survivor, thanked the student activists for trying to make a change.
"It should have ended with us -- it didn't," said Galligan. "We left it to grown ups. They told us, they counseled us, they consoled us, they promised us that it was an anomaly and it would never happen again -- and it did... and it did.. and it did."
"Keep fighting, keep talking and keep doing exactly what you're doing, cause we didn't know we could do it," she added. "so thank you."
The “March for Our Lives Town Hall” was an opportunity for students to exchange stories and get inspiration from people who’ve lived through gun violence. Panelists included students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors of mass shootings including Columbine, Tucson, Arizona (which wounded Gabby Giffords) and families who lost loved ones in the Virginia Tech massacre. The discussion also included leaders from law enforcement, education and Congress.
