What is wrong with my mysql stored procedure?

I have a stored procedure that checks whether or not a new entry is already existing in the table. if it exists, the insert will not happen. when I run it, there is an error

DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS AddPriority2;
DELIMITER $$

CREATE PROCEDURE AddPriority2
(
    IN strName VARCHAR(100),
    OUT itExists INT
)
BEGIN
DECLARE 
SELECT COUNT(Id) INTO itExists
FROM priorities
WHERE Name = strName AND StatId = 1;

IF(itExists = 0) THEN
INSERT INTO priorities
(
    NAME,
    StatId
)
VALUES
(
    strName,
    1
);
END IF;
END

here is the error

Query: CREATE PROCEDURE AddPriority2 ( IN strName VARCHAR(100), OUT itExists INT ) BEGIN DECLARE SELECT COUNT(Id) INTO itExists FROM pr...

Error Code: 1064
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near 'SELECT COUNT(Id) INTO itExists
FROM priorities
WHERE Name = strName AND StatId =' at line 8