After a Cathedral High School football player was killed in a weekend shooting on the east side of Indianapolis, teammates and loved ones grieved with a virtual prayer service Monday.
The rosary, a set of Catholic devotional prayers, was said for junior Mario McCullough, who was among two killed in the Sunday shooting on the 2600 block of N. Emerson Ave. The second man killed was identified as 18-year-old John Jennings II, according to the Marion County Coroner’s Office. The third person shot, McCullough’s younger brother Monty, was in critical condition at an Indianapolis hospital Sunday.
McCullough’s picture was placed on an altar in the school's chapel during the livestream on Cathedral’s Facebook page. Father Jeff Godecker, who clutched a rosary with protective gloves, led prayer with the campus ministry director. They sat apart to maintain social distancing.
About 300 people, including many from the Cathedral community, watched the livestream remotely. This grieving — together but apart — is part of the new reality of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Not being able to be together definitely makes it harder for everyone who loved Mario,” teammate and friend Farrell Henderson III said. “We can’t give each other hugs.”
While no arrests have been made and police have not made many details about the shooting public, friends said McCullough, 17, died saving his younger brother.Teammate and friend Jayden Scruggs said McCullough would do anything for his family.
"He lost his life saving his brother, and knowing Mario, I know that's something he would do," Scruggs said.
Scruggs said he and Mario wanted to play football in college together and come back home to take care of their families.
“Mario was the smallest dude on the field but had the most heart I’ve ever seen,” Scruggs said.
McCullough, who friends said often danced through the halls of Cathedral with his headphones in, was known for being loyal and selfless. Junior Jalen Johnson said when he was nervous to start school at Cathedral, McCullough took him under his wing.
Johnson said McCullough made him feel like family, and he knew when he was with him, he wasn't alone. He said he was supposed to go on an international spring break trip with McCullough the week of the shooting. The trip was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think none of this would have happened,” Johnson said.
As the community grieves McCullough, they face the fact that his dreams and goals will never be attained.
“I must have stared at Mario’s college folder for an hour,” his college counselor wrote on Facebook. “What a great future he had both academically and athletically.”
McCullough, who died before he could finish his college essay, had started a draft. He shared why his jersey, No. 2, was his favorite number.
“This is my grandmother’s favorite number and she is who I do what I do for, along with the rest of my family,” McCullough wrote, according to a teacher’s post on his memorial page. “I want the number two to make people think of me. I want my name to be remembered in a positive way, to be used as an example for others in the future.”
