Mothers Of Murdered Offspring Hold A Vigil For Fallen Officers

CHARLOTTE – The community of Charlotte is still leaning on each other after Monday’s tragedy.

Mothers of Murdered Offspring has been a local nonprofit in Charlotte for the past 30 years. They support families and communities who lose a loved one to violence. Their executive director, Lisa Crawford, still feels the pain from Monday. 

“I was devastated,” she said. “I was really hurt immediately.”

This vigil was to honor four officers who tragically lost their lives after trying to serve a warrant on Galway Drive on Monday. Four other officers were shot but are expected to be okay. 

Wednesday night’s event at Marshall Park in uptown I was filled with dozens of people, including city leaders, law-enforcement, and community members. 

“This one incident, as bad as it was, will not define us,” said CMPD Sergeant Ricky Robbins. “It will not define Charlotte and we know as a police department that that’s not representative of Charlotte and what Charlotte is.”

Officers from CMPD joined the vigil, and were able to light candles in honor of their fallen brothers in blue, passing the flames around. 

Lutheran Church Charities also made an appearance at Marshall Park. They travel across the country and attend vigils after tragedy and provide furry friends for those struggling. The dogs got the chance to meet with some of the swat members who were on the scene on Monday. 

“When we walked into the room several of them just smiled, some stayed where they were at, but over the course of time every single person in that room took a little bit of time just to stop in to pet and to give the dogs a hug,” said Paul Soost with the Lutheran Church Charities.

Crawford shared her messages to the families of the officers.

“When you’re ready we have a whole community of people ready to love on you and walk this journey with you.”