ST PAUL, Minn. — At St. Paul's 8218 Truce Center, Founder Miki Frost works with teens on de-escalation.
"One of the main things we do at the Truce Center is work with law enforcement, social media, word of mouth," he said. "And what I was doing today is there were a few individuals who go to school and there was an issue at school," he said. "We got those individuals down to here to create peace and diffuse the situation."
And Wednesday afternoon, hours after hosting a CPR training for families.
"The CPR event was brought on by the recent incident with the Bills football player," he said.
He got word of a shooting down the street from his space.
"We were actually in the middle of a de-escalation event again and soon as that was done, my phone was rang, it was the sheriff's dept. letting me know there was an incident at the recreation center, and I did what I always do and shot down in my vehicle to see if I can support to the families and help out in any way," he said.
A somber scene outside the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center, where St. Paul police say a teen was shot in the head and left in critical condition.
A 26-year-old employee of the city of St. Paul - was later arrested.
St. Paul Parks and Recreation said the suspect was a community recreation specialist whose responsibility was to engage with young people and the community.
"It's like they're becoming numb to seeing these types of things, and there's no outlets, places to go, and you would think as a parent, you have a kid you want off the street, not roaming the neighborhood and you get them to the rec center where they are supposed to be safe," said Frost. "Now that's not a safe space."
Frost, who helped calm traumatized teens at the scene, fears they now have to live with the aftermath.
"These kids have so much stuff bottled up inside of them," he said. "In the communities we make them feel like they can't let that out, they can't express themselves, and that's where we are having a problem with a lot of these kids."
As the injured teen continues fighting for his life, Frost is helping young people in this community heal.
"These kids need us as elders to be able to talk to and let those frustrations or positive emotions, they need these outlets, and that's my goal in life, is to give them someone who can relate to what they are going through, and an give them an outlet to just talk," said Frost.
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