NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Two weeks after the mass shooting at the Greenbrier Walmart in Chesapeake, college students in Hampton Roads are calling for change.
Despite the gray skies, students at Christopher Newport University led a march around campus Wednesday afternoon to protest gun violence.
CNU Student Derrick Pough Jr. invited about 50 students to rally on campus and speak out against gun violence.
“When and where are you safe if you can’t even go to the store; if you can’t even go to school; if you can’t even go to a club; if you can’t express yourself? Where is the line?” Pough said.
Pough said the near back-to-back shootings across the country inspired him to organize the march.
“Growing up, you hear about the Tech shooting that happened years ago when we were younger," Pough said. "You don’t think it could really be you, and then it’s UVA who is not that far from you -- where you know people who go to that school -- and you’re like: ‘It really could be you.’ It’s terrifying."
Days before Thanksgiving, six people lost their lives at the Greenbrier Walmart after a team-leader shot and killed them before taking his own life. Four others were injured.
And just nine days before that, a student killed three University of Virginia Football players and injured two other students in an on-campus shooting.
Student Kayla Caine held a sign that read: “Is CNU next? Am I next?”
“Can it happen to me when I’m going across the street to Harris Teeter to get my groceries for the week? Or is it going to happen to me when I’m going out with my friends on a Friday night? Whatever it may be," Caine said. “Now it’s happening in Virginia and am I going to be next? Are my classmates going to be next?"
Pough also pointed to the deadly Colorado Springs shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub. Five people died and 19 others were injured by gunfire.
Caine said the ongoing violence across the country is affecting a lot of students on campus.
“Derrick actually texted a huge group chat of ours and he said, ‘With everything going on, I’ve had enough.’ And I also agreed," Caine said. "I said, ‘Absolutely I also have as well.’ And he said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ And I said, ‘I will fully stand right behind you.’”
Pough said he’s hoping to grab the attention of lawmakers so they can find solutions to the ongoing gun violence.
“I want to encourage the students and people to not be desensitized. That’s the biggest thing for me," Pough said.