Just blocks from the St. Paul school where community members and young people will gather Saturday to talk about solutions to gun violence, a 22-year-old man was shot last week.

“We’re trying to send a message to our community, ‘Guns down,'” said Dora Jones-Robinson, executive director of Mentoring Young Adults and the summit’s host. “We’re tired of burying our kids.”

Planning for the Guns Down St. Paul Youth Summit was underway for months when Dajuon Johnson died last Saturday after he was shot four days earlier. But what happened to him shows the urgency of getting young people involved in larger conversations about what leads to violence, Jones-Robinson said.

There are too many instances of small conflicts, often stemming from social media, that escalate to gunfire, said Jones-Robinson and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who will be among local leaders attending the summit.

“When you talk to young people who carry guns, oftentimes the first thing they’re going to be articulating is they feel like they’re going to be shot and they’re carrying them to defend themselves,” Choi said. “That’s a conversation to have in our community about why do young people feel that way, and how do we convince them … we shouldn’t be using guns to settle scores?”

LOOKING FOR LARGE TURNOUT

More than 200 people attended the first Guns Down youth summit in St. Paul in November, and Jones-Robinson is hoping at least that many people come out for Saturday’s free gathering at the High School for Recording Arts. The first 75 young people, ages 13 to 19, and the first 25 parents who arrive will each receive a $50 stipend.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is giving the keynote address, and there will be breakout sessions for youth.

The summit is open to everyone, though Mentoring Young Adults is an African-American culturally-based organization and Jones-Robinson said she’s especially encouraging members of the black community to attend.

“We’ve got to start at home as we work to fix this problem,” Jones-Robinson said.

VIGIL WILL BE AFTER SUMMIT

Carter’s father, Melvin Carter Jr. — who is the founder of Save Our Sons — said he will be at the summit to talk about “rejecting gun violence as a way of life.” After the summit, Carter and peace activist KG Wilson will host a vigil for Johnson at 4 p.m. at the BP gas station at University and Hamline avenues, where the young man was shot on June 18.

Police have not announced arrests in Johnson’s killing and Melvin Carter Jr. said anyone who has information should call the police, “even if it means what some people call snitching.”

“In the process of choosing peace over gun violence, if you have information about whoever took somebody’s life, you cannot stand by silently,” Carter said.

Johnson “lived with a passion for family and music” and leaves behind a 1-year-old daughter who “will go through life with just the pictures and stories of her father,” his mother wrote on a GoFundMe site that is raising funds for Johnson’s daughter’s future and for the family’s expenses from his killing.

GUNS DOWN ST. PAUL YOUTH SUMMIT