Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald launches new foundation to prevent gun violence

Sitting beside two victims of gun violence, Oakland County's prosecutor launched a new foundation to prevent gun violence during a news conference Tuesday.

The All of Us Foundation is a product of Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's Commission to Address Gun Violence, formed in September 2022 in the wake of the Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High School shooting. The foundation will use prevention education and training to educate the public, according to its website, along with legal advocacy and training to recognize when someone is in crisis.

"It's time to do more than hope and pray and argue about guns," McDonald said. "These are real answers and protocols."

McDonald announced the new initiative alongside Molly Darnell, an Oxford teacher injured in the shooting that left four high school students dead and seven people, including Darnell, injured. Deleah Sharp, who lost her brother to gun violence in Pontiac, also spoke. Parents of the slain Oxford High students — Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17 — attended Tuesday's news conference.

Darnell said gun violence has reached a "crisis point" in the community.

"What transformed me as a result of that day was so life altering that I cannot even remember who I was before November 30 of 2021 but this tragedy, like many others, could have been prevented even before that day," she said.

Problems foundation will target

The foundation seeks to promote a list of protocols to prevent gun violence; they are:

1. Prevention: This would include training in the community, including crisis prevention, suicide prevention and bullying prevention programs.
2. Identify crisis: Understanding the warning signs people show when they are in mental crisis.
3. Threat assessment: Protocols, often used in schools, to understand if someone poses a threat to themselves or others.
4. Early intervention: After a threat assessment, this step involves directing resources to someone in crisis, such as mental health counseling.
5. Supporting survivors: After an incident, this step calls for supporting gun violence supporters and families of victims, as well as understanding their calls for justice.
6. Environment target hardening: This involves improving both physical and social security measures, such as building a positive school environment.

Some details of the foundation have not been fully fleshed out. The foundation is "soliciting funds from foundations and individuals," according to an email from spokesman James Martinez. Fundraising began Tuesday, Martinez wrote.

McDonald is the founder of the foundation, but there is not yet an executive director. It's the intent of the organization to hire an executive director when funding allows, Martinez wrote.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.