ST. LOUIS — Following the mass shooting in downtown St. Louis that took the life of one teenager and injured nearly a dozen others, many community members are searching for solutions.
Now, a former Missouri State Highway Patrol captain is sharing his opinions.
Capt. Ron Johnson is a name that may sound familiar to many.
He caught the attention of the nation back in 2014, when he was appointed by the governor to take control of security operations in Ferguson following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr.
Now, Johnson is stepping up again and hoping to help solve a problem that he said can't be ignored anymore.
"This problem is fixable. We need to come together and come with some plans that would benefit this city and make our city safer as a whole," he said.
The calmness along Washington Ave. in downtown St. Louis on Tuesday was a stark contrast to what took place nearly two days earlier.
Even being out of town, Johnson immediately heard the news.
"I heard about it early Sunday morning after my daughter's wedding," he said.
Over 200 miles away, Johnson got the call that a mass shooting, in the heart of his hometown, killed one teenager and injured 11 others.
"What was going through my head was sadness that another young life was lost, but also that this issue that we've talked about for the last couple of years continues," he said.
It's a problem that Johnson, a state trooper for 32 years and CEO of Lodestone Solutions Group, has personally watched spiral out of control.
"I think we all have to be honest. We saw this problem get worse since 2014, when we had the Michael Brown Jr. protests and his death," he said.
The tragedy that took place over the weekend wasn't a shock to Johnson.
"I really saw it coming. I think we don't have activities in our region for kids to do and they come downtown because it is one of the only places in our region they can actually come and gather, and that should not be. I think we have to come up with things that our kids can engage in and we have to understand it is many different groups. One plan is not going to work for all groups of our youth or young adults," he said.
That's why Johnson has met with the head of St. Louis City's NAACP, activists and city leaders for past several weeks trying to find solutions.
"I think we're addressing this in a thousand different ways, and I think that becomes the issue. We're kind of segregated in how we're addressing this issue," he said.
For Johnson, it all starts with funding and conversations with teens, so the city can develop places and activities they will enjoy.
Johnson told 5 On Your Side he has had conversations with teenagers who tell him there is nothing for them to do so they come downtown.
They tell Johnson that what starts as a peaceful evening turns into hundreds of kids on the streets and that's when the disagreements and conflict begins.
"Some of the solutions is actually talking to the kids that come to downtown. Let them be a part of the solution that we need," he said.
Safe spaces are something that, according to Johnson, these teenagers and young adults don't have right now.
"These are not kids that are going to go to the rec center because you leave it open for a couple of hours. They're not going to summer camps," he said.
While the political issue revolves around guns, Johnson said we have to dig deeper.
"If we took all the guns away, we would still have the violence and chaos, so we have to address the whole picture that's here," he said.
As the saying goes, it takes a village, and Johnson just wants his village to come together.
"We're a good city, we're a great city, and we're going to solve this problem. There are a lot of people that are trying to do that same thing and we just have to come together, think outside the box and be innovative and not let politics dictate where we go and how we go. Relationships dictate where we go and how we go. Let's all go together and become better," he said.
Johnson doesn't believe more policing is the answer.
He said if the city can create these safe spaces, then it would take some pressure off the already stretched thin police department.