Students call for action during Southlake vigil supporting Santa Fe shooting victims | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Students hastily organized a candlelight vigil in support of the victims and those grieving for the victims of a deadly mass shooting at a Sante Fe high school earlier on Friday.

At least 10 people were killed and 10 people wounded at the high school in Santa Fe, Texas, a small town about 35 miles southeast of Houston, according to news reports Friday.

Katie Silverman, an 18-year-old senior at Southlake Carroll Senior High School, said students are going beyond offering their thoughts and prayers for the families of students who are shot dead by other students. Students have started to organize politically and intentionally, Silverman said.

"What we're talking about is starting a student led PAC (political action committee) called backpack," Silverman said. "We're also talking about a student run publication to inform other students about the views of different candidates."

Voting is the most important tool that students possess right now, Silverman said. Your vote is your voice, she said.

"I think now more than ever we need to support candidates who support our values," Silverman said.

The vigil's co-organizer, Alanna Miller, a 17-year-old Southlake Carroll Senior High junior, said she will turn 18 in October, "right before the mid-term elections. " Miller said she is outraged by the inaction of our elected leaders. She is paying attention to what lawmakers do and what they say, Miller said.

The Santa Fe shootings happened about three months after the shootings in Parkland, Fla., and if a shooting can happen in Parkland, it can happen anywhere, Miller said.

"If our legislators don't have the courage to act on this issue we will throw them out of office," Miller said.

Mitch Mitchell: 817-390-7752, @mitchmitchel3