ANN ARBOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Community leaders in Washtenaw County are actively looking for ways to curb gun violence. Retaliation and social media are said to be major drivers of "street level interpersonal violence."
K’Antonio Lewis-Gardner counts himself fortunate to have survived several shootings.
“I would like to see all these young kids just stop killing each other," the Ypsilanti resident told 7 Action News.
Lewis-Gardner said he's been shot on three separate occasions. The last time, he said thirteen bullets entered his body as the shooter stood over him emptying the clip.
“I was on a path to destruction. When I was in that hospital I made the promise to God I’m [going to] leave it all behind me,” he recalled.
Lewis-Gardner said he fought the temptation to retaliate and chose to put that energy towards something positive like his family.
It's been found that 85% of the shootings in Washtenaw County are retaliatory in nature, said Derrick Jackson. He's the director of community engagement for the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
“You do something to me, and I’m going to get back at you. I pick up a weapon, and now I’m searching for you,” Jackson described.
To combat that, Jackson is also the facilitator of the local Community Violence Intervention Team. He says his team has met every Thursday for the past two years. On Monday, a summit was held at Washtenaw Community College bringing together educators, social workers, members of law enforcement, survivors of gun violence, former felons, and more.
Cherisa Allen, a social worker and organizer for the event, said gun violence is a public heath issue and that we’re in a "crisis state."
“It has a domino effect. It effects everyone one of us. None of us are immune to this. The schools, financially, mentally, emotionally, physically, our education systems, the hospitals," Allen said.
According to Jackson, Washtenaw County is relatively safe. However, he says there are "pockets of violence" that are being addressed. The Community Violence Intervention Team came up with a list of 14 recommendations with the goal of turning ideas into action.
Some of those steps include:
- Identifying places and people driving violence.
- Setting aside funding for new stakeholders and strategies.
- Building a community center.
- Create the Washtenaw County Violence Commission.
- Establishing support protocols for responding to grief and loss.
Additional measures can be found here.
“It really is an ecosystems approach. An all hands on deck approach to really deal with something that sometimes seems hopeless," Jackson explained. "but what we’ve seen is people in our community are turning that pain into purpose.”
He's referring to people like Lewis-Gardner who has a message for potential perpetrators of gun violence.
“Just think man. Stop and think before you act because once you act, you can’t take back that act," he said.
