Luis Garcia foreshadowed his own death in a poem he wrote for class about Denver called “My City.”

The East High School student’s ode to everyday life in Colorado’s most vibrant inner city paints a diverse landscape from the beauty of orange skies, tall trees, and volleyball in the park, to loud Friday night music, car alarms and gunshots.

“It’s not what it seems to be. It’s not just hanging out with friends going downtown. It’s getting shot because you were at the wrong place, wrong time,” the 16-year-old wrote.

Garcia was shot while sitting in his car Feb. 13. His family said he was preparing to buy birthday decorations for an upcoming party.

Each of Garcia’s soccer teammates took turns reading stanzas from the poem to a somber crowd that gathered around a shrine of flowers dedicated to Garcia in the school’s outdoor plaza.

Hundreds of students traded a morning of class for a march to the state Capitol to push legislators to listen to the fear they feel just going to school.

“It’s been sad since Luis got shot,” said freshman Mariana Rodriguez, who admitted she was feeling timid about walking to the capitol after what happened to her friend.

Parents who grew up “when we used our fists” are apprehensive, too.

“When I ask my son, ‘Do you feel safe at school?’ he says, ‘No,'” said Jim Bohling, whose 15-year-old was way far away so that his friends wouldn’t see him hanging out with his dad. “This year has been just one thing after another.”

Friday’s student march coincided with a national-day-of-advocacy observed by Everytown — an American non-profit group that supports stricter gun laws. It was started in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting when 26 children and educators were killed.

Before the crowd of more than 1,000 students, parents, teachers, politicians and clergy stepped off for the two-mile walk, they honored Garcia’s life with 11 seconds of silence, chosen because he was number 11 on the East High Angels soccer team.

“Luis should not have died and we should not be here,” said 16-year-old Gracie Taub, a student leader and co-president of East High’s chapter of Students Demand Action.

Once at the Capitol, the students overran the building flagging down state legislators.

“We want them to hear from us. We need for them to pass stricter gun laws so that we feel safe going to school,” Taub said.

Students held homemade signs with gut-wrenching messages like “I don’t feel safe,” and “Am I next?” Most of them wore red, the school’s colors.

It’s been an especially traumatic three weeks since Garcia was shot after school while sitting in his car, which was parked on Esplanade Street, which runs in front of East High.

As of Friday, Denver police said no one has been arrested in the shooting.

Two days after the shooting, a weapon was discovered on campus. The next day, on Feb. 16, students were placed in a “secure perimeter” because of “an unrelated disturbance in the neighborhood,” according to a note to parents.

East High freshman Titus Dokes described the disturbance as a violent incident that happened on East Colfax Avenue — which runs past the school but is not considered school property.

A week later, several Colorado schools, including East, received false reports of active shooters and other threats.

“It was scary for everyone,” said Dokes, who added he was afraid he was going to die because he didn’t have a cellphone that day to keep up with the situation.

On Wednesday, the gut-punch landed for the East High School community as it got word that Garcia’s family had taken him off life support.

“Everyone is pretty much tired of this,” Makai Brooks said, adding that, last week a student got on his school bus and “threatened to shoot it up.”

Brooks and Titon said they would like to see Denver Police officers return to East High School to provide protection inside of the school.

“I’d feel safer if an actual cop was in there,” Dokes said.

The school doors are locked, deans are at every entrance and Dokes has to show a school identification to get in the doors.

Alexander Cisneros, 16, agreed there needs to be Denver Police presence outside, but feels Denver Public Schools security keeps things safe inside the school.

“It’s a complicated issue,” he said.

Last year, controversy ensued when Denver South Principal Rachel Goss in a video warned students that explicitly warned against calling the police in the case of a racist or transphobic attack, claiming law enforcement officers have been trained to view members of minority groups as “perpetrators of violence.”

Currently, security in DPS is provided by public safety officers, some of whom are armed and some who are not.

In 2020, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education made a controversial decision approving a resolution terminating all School Resource Officer contracts with the Denver Police Department.

On its website, the DPS Board explained that “part of the reasoning for this decision is the belief that the close proximity of law enforcement to students on campuses directly contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline.”

The change happened gradually first, school officials trading Denver officers for armed and unarmed security guards in middle schools — and then DPD seeing it’s last days in the high schools.

School Board Vice-President Auon’te Anderson, who was one of the most vocal board members in support of the change, said that “he doesn’t foresee any school board member even entertaining the idea of supporting SROs at this time.”

Anderson said that not a single gun has gone off inside of a Denver Public school, noting that the shooting that killed Garcia occurred off of school property.

Still, an open records act request by Chalkbeat found that a record 200 weapons, including 13 guns, were found in DPS during the last school year. That number was five times the amount of weapons found in 2018-2019 before the pandemic. That school year, 40 weapons were recovered.

Last November, Superintendent Alex Marrero broke his silence at a school board meeting, saying that his biggest concern is “the violence that’s happening in and around schools.” He called the situation a “ticking time bomb.”

On Thursday, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock issued a lengthy statement, offering condolences over Garcia’s death and saying it “never should have happened in the city.”

In the statement, Hancock included details about school security, mentioning that Denver police have been partnering with East High to provide support and safety.

Anderson said this doesn’t mean that DPD is sending its officers as SROs; it means there’s still a relationship.

“I support the police and I want a working partnership,” he said.

Both Denver police cars and DPS public safety vehicles escorted the student march, which was believed to be a record crowd for East High School. In addition, several Denver police cars kept watch on Esplanade.

“If they don’t want us inside the schools, there’s nothing we can do,” said a Denver officer who wished not to be identified. “But I think they need us.”

Last week, East High school students, accompanied by a teacher and a soccer coach urged Denver City Council to help end the violence.

“We’re scared,” East High School student Teo Tullar told the Denver City Council. “We don’t want to be in school — we don’t feel safe there.”

Friday’s historic march brought out students from other DPS high schools: George Washington, Northfield, Cherry Creek and the Denver School for International Studies. Parents, politicians and faith leaders, such as Vernon Jordan with Faith Bridge, also joined.

“Young people are tired of living in a situation where adults are not taking action. Instead, they’re playing politics,” Jordan said, adding that DPS, the city and the state should be working together to find a solution.

Once inside the Capitol, the students played their own game of politics, grabbing any legislator who would listen as they made their case for changes to gun laws. One woman in the Capitol ladies’ room was angry that kids had placed flyers on her car.

Seizing the moment, Anderson brought a proclamation signed by the DPS Board Education in December calling on the legislature to enact an assault weapons ban.

”I’m not going to continue to allow the students to feel unsafe in their buildings,” said Anderson, who went to Manual High School and whose son will be attending class at East once he’s old enough.

Not all of East’s students took Friday morning to march for an end to gun violence. Tyrie Truitt gathered with some friends on the corner, unafraid of what might lay around it.

“I’m from Detroit. I’m used to gunshots,” he shrugged. “You gotta just keep your head on a swivel.”

Colorado Politics reporter Hannah Metzger contributed to this story.