'Army Of Moms' Vows To Protect Englewood Following Wednesday Shooting

An “Army of Moms” occupying two streets in Englewood has vowed to stay in the streets, wearing their bright pink shirts, grilling out and patrolling to help keep their neighborhood violence-free, even after a nearby shooting left one man dead Wednesday.

It all started after a June 23 shooting killed 34-year-old Lucille Barnes and wounded two other women. Some local moms, tired of the gun violence plaguing their neighborhood, decided it was up to them to make it stop. Every night since, the “army of moms”, officially known as Mothers Against Senseless Killings, or MASK, sets up shop starting at 4 p.m. on street corners in the Englewood neighborhood. They patrol the neighborhood, provide barbecue for neighborhood kids and families, do yoga with the kids and generally keep an eye on things in their corner of Englewood.

Until Wednesday night, MASK’s two-block patrol on the corners of 75th Street and Harvard Avenue, and 75th Street and Stewart Avenue, had been completely violence-free. But the fatal daytime shooting death of a 20-year-old man broke the nearly 8-week streak of calm. Still, the mothers vow to keep hosting the nightly patrols because they seem to be working. In just the two months before the women of MASK started their work, one person was killed and six people were wounded in that same 2-block radius, according to police data.

Faye McCullough, 67, told DNAinfo that they will carry on their work, especially because children in the neighborhood feel safer and trust them:

"We'll be here. We're not afraid. We're like the front line.When you figure you have results, why stop?" McCullough said.

Learn more by checking out MASK's website. If you want to support their efforts, you can donate to MASK’s cause here or sign up to bring food for the barbecues.