LANSING, Mich — A new community-led initiative in Lansing aims to combat gun violence by deploying support teams directly to active crime scenes.
The program, called Critical Incident, Community Planned Response (CI-CPR), is organized by the Lansing Empowerment Network. The goal is to support families, provide resources, identify those closest to the incident, and calm tensions to prevent retaliation.
"It stands for critical incident, community planned response," Sheri Pruitt said.
Pruitt became an advocate after her 17-year-old son, Richard Pruitt, was killed 12 years ago.
"He was shot in our home," Pruitt said.
Richard was getting ready for his senior year of high school when he died.
"It's devastating, he was my youngest son," Pruitt said. "He was getting ready to go into his senior year of high school so I missed the prom and the graduation."
Pruitt said her son's case remains cold and unsolved. She channeled her heartbreak into advocacy to help others.
"If you say what can I do to change my community, you could show up to one of our meetings and you could sit among and you could sit among the leaders in the community," Pruitt said.
The CI-CPR team wants their response time to be nearly instantaneous when a shooting happens.
"We’re trying to get to the point, almost when 911 dispatched… I am dispatched," Pruitt said.
The group currently consists of a few community members, but they are open to training more people to join the team.
I asked Pruitt what this kind of support would have meant to her when she lost her son.
"It would have been amazing," Pruitt said.
Those interested in getting involved with the CI-CPR group can find more information on the Fox 47 News website.
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