Nearly 2,000 walk out of class at Green Hope to protest gun violence at schools

School officials said there have been dozens of rumors of threats at Wake County schools since the Valentine’s Day mass shooting in Florida that killed 17 people.

At Green Hope High, school officials asked students to be peaceful, but encouraged them to take part of the process.

"We want this movement to be as inclusive as possible and as bipartisan as possible,” said Ryan Kemper, one of the organizers of the walkout. “That's been the main goal of this is, overall, what we're doing today is to stand in solidarity with those affected at Stoneman Douglas, and most of all, start to promote some change in the way school safety is approached as a nation as a whole."

Green Hope Junior Megan Sharma used to attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. She left after her freshman year.

"It was the worst feeling in the world. Not knowing if your closest friends and family are safe," she said.

Sharma told her fellow students that she knew friends who died in that massacre. She doesn't want it to happen at Green Hope.

"We think we can really inspire change in some of these other issues where kids feel strongly about it but just don't know how to go about getting their message out to people," Kemper said.

Last week, scores of students marched through downtown Raleigh, stopping at the State Capitol to demand reform to gun laws.

According to posts on social media, more protests are planned.

About 900 students of the 2,900 students did not take part in the walk out.