Saugus High School shooting survivor makes emotional plea: 'This can't keep happening to us'

SAUGUS, Calif. (KABC) -- A group of students at Saugus High School staged a walkout Thursday morning in support of the victims killed in the Texas elementary school shooting.

The heartbreaking events in Uvalde hits especially close to home for people in the Santa Clarita Valley community. In 2019, a 16-year-old student at Saugus High School shot five schoolmates, killing two and wounding three, before killing himself.

Students at the protest chanted: "protect kids, not guns" and "enough is enough."

One sign read: "I should worry about my SAT's, not my life."

Mia Tretta, one of the students wounded in the 2019 shooting, helped organize the event at Saugus and made an emotional statement to Eyewitness News.

"We are devastated. We are angry. This can't keep happening to us," she said. "This can't keep happening to people like us or kids younger than us. This is not fair. We can't vote. We can't be in legislation yet. This is a group from 13 to 17, and it's not fair that we now have to do this change."

MORE: What we know about Texas elementary school shooting victims so far

Some of the Uvalde school shooting victims include two cousins, two teachers and a 10-year-old girl who tried to call for help.

On the heels of the 2019 shooting, Mia said she comes to school every day terrified of another incident. When she learned about Uvalde, she said it brought back those terrifying feelings.

"It brings everything back every time another one happens and no change has been made," Mia said. "I'm disappointed in the people who are higher ups who say 'we need more guns, we need armed teachers.' That's not how it is. We need less guns over here. We need a safe place.

"Schools should be a sanctuary of learning, not of death, and I shouldn't have to be scared every time I walk onto that campus that I might get shot and killed, and it's not fair that it keeps happening across our country and it doesn't happen in any other countries and we're supposed to be one of the leaders, but our kids can't even go to school."

Mike Kuhlman, superintendent of the Hart School District, and other school officials supported all of the students making their voices heard.

"It breaks my heart that we are still talking about this issue," he said. "I'm so very proud of Mia and all these kids for having their voices heard."

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A Saugus High School teacher reflects nearly a year after a school shooting rattled the school.