THOMASVILLE — Thomas County Central High School corridors were empty and quiet a few minutes before 10 a.m. Wednesday. The situation changed at 10 sharp.

Classroom doors opened and about 200 students walked silently to a grassed area on the campus.

TCCHS students participated in a nationwide 17-minute school walkout in commemoration of a February South Florida school shooting in which 17 people were fatally wounded by a former student who had been expelled from the school.

Wednesday was the one-month anniversary of the deadly rampage.

Several TCCHS students told the Times-Enterprise they are aware shootings could happen at their school.

Megan Curry, a sophomore, wants the Georgia Legislature to consider stricter gun laws, but not outlaw firearms.

“There was a tragedy in Florida, and we don’t need one here,” said Bre Woods, also a sophomore.

Curry said she feels threatened.

Said Woods, “It can happen anywhere. It can happen in our school.”

“We hope more awareness is spread,” Curry said.

Both students said they would participate in other events to bring attention to stricter gun laws.

Eleventh-grader Jamey Gray said 17 Florida students “like myself” died because of an unstable boy.

“All of us care so much for 17 families who lost their children,” Gray said.

She wants to ensure she and her family are prepared mentally if a shooting took place at her school.

As a Christian, Gray said she would want to save lives. She thinks she would give up her life to save someone else.

“I’ve thought about it,” Gray said.

Ka’Marri Samuel, a TCCHS 10th-grader, thinks there might be someone like the South Florida killer in Thomasville — someone with an illness that could trigger a school shooting.

“If you do something about it, then we can prevent it,” Samuel said.

He described the TCCHS walkout as as coming together of a crowd of students who have the same level of mutual feelings.

Dr. Dusty Kornegay, Thomas County school district superintendent, attended the walkout and described the event as orderly.

TCCHS Principal Trista Jones said a student asked for permission to call for a moment of silence during the walkout. The protest was totally led by students, she said.

“All could articulate why they were here,” Jones said.

While participants wanted to express their thoughts and feelings at the protest, they also wanted to ensure the event was over in time for them to get to their next classes on time, the principal pointed out.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820