Members of the Rochester Hills community are still reeling after a gunman opened fire at a splash pad in the Oakland County community on Saturday.
Nine people were injured, including two young children. Police said the gunman is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot in a nearby home. Hundreds gathered at a vigil Sunday to pray for those wounded.
The attack came less than three years after the deadly mass shooting at Oxford High School, also in Oakland County. In the aftermath of tragedies like these, many of us find ourselves asking how to keep our friends, families, and neighborhoods safe.
That’s a topic that Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has been thinking about for several years now.
“What we know is that in almost every case with a mass shooting, there are absolute signs, sometimes for months in advance, that there is a person who is in crisis or is exhibiting signs that he might hurt himself or somebody else,” McDonald said.
The Oakland County official has a deep knowledge of the pain that gun violence causes. McDonald was lead prosecutor in the murder case against the Oxford High School shooter, as well as the manslaughter cases against both of his parents.
She’s become an outspoken advocate on preventing gun violence in her community. Last week, she announced that she has created a new non-profit: the All of Us Foundation. Its goal is to help mitigate gun violence through community education.
Education is key to helping prevent gun violence—whether that’s education about the warning signs of gun violence or the way we design public spaces, McDonald said. She compared it to how much attention has been paid to another public safety threat: automobile crashes.
“You know, even our children at a young age know: buckle up, don't text and drive, look both ways before you cross the road. So much public education about how to prevent deaths from automobiles and virtually zero about how to prevent gun violence.”
McDonald said her foundation is dedicated to helping educate the public on what to do when they fear someone they know might have plans to harm themselves or others around them. That includes making them aware of new state laws about safe storage and red flag laws. While ensuring adequate mental health resources exist in communities, she said that public education about prevention is key to reducing the toll of gun violence.
“I'm just so angry that we still will not turn our gaze to the prevention side of this. And I believe that it's the most important work I'll ever do. Because I get asked no matter where I go, 'How did this happen? How can I keep my kids safe?' But look, we have to start educating ourselves. And that's what the foundation is all about.”
Hear more from our conversation with Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald above.
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