More than 100 Lakeridge High School students walked out of class Thursday, Oct. 22, demanding action on gun violence after the deadly Bend school shooting.

Gov. Tina Kotek and U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum joined the student-led demonstration at the invitation of student organizers, KGW reported.

Students took their message onto the sidewalk outside the Lake Oswego campus.

The 9:30 a.m. walkout was organized by student leaders working with the national group Students Demand Action.

Students at Lake Oswego High School also walked out, and West Linn High School held a separate walkout at 11:30 a.m., according to KPTV. Principals from both Lake Oswego campuses sent a joint letter to families about the event.

Natalie Razey, a Lakeridge senior and co-president of Students Demand Action, said the walkout was timed with the Nov. 3 midterm elections in mind. Razey, 17, told KPTV she cannot vote yet and sees the walkout as her way to push for change.

"We've all thought of where we would hide if a gunman were to enter our school classroom," Razey told KGW. "Like, should we go to this classroom or behind this desk?"

The walkout responded to the Oct. 15 shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, where a 16-year-old gunman killed three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher before an armed parent followed the shooter inside and killed him, The Oregonian reported.

The shooting was Oregon's first deadly mass shooting at an elementary school, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Lakeridge staff said they could not encourage the walkout but could not stop it, so they worked to keep the event safe, KGW reported.

Kotek told KGW she had visited Bend on Wednesday, Oct. 21, as students in the Bend-La Pine School District resumed classes.

Silver Rail itself remained closed. The governor said lawmakers need to "get even more serious" in the next legislative session about keeping guns away from people who should not have them. She did not name specific legislation.

Bynum, who said she has a teenager in public school, urged parents to keep demanding accountability from school districts and the state.

She said she knew of three walkouts in her congressional district on Oct. 22.

Senior Brooklyn Peake told KPTV the students' collective presence was the point, saying they cannot be ignored when they all show up together.

As we reported Oct. 23, Lake Oswego voters passed bonds in 2021 and 2025 that funded school safety upgrades including secure classroom doors, hardened glass, expanded security cameras and upgraded emergency communications, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The next Oregon legislative session begins in 2027.