USA-SHOOTING/SOUTH CAROLINA-MORNING SCENE Mourners pay homage to nine killed in South Carolina church shooting

Record ID: 151809

  • Title: USA-SHOOTING/SOUTH CAROLINA-MORNING SCENE Mourners pay homage to nine killed in South Carolina church shooting
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 19, 2015) (REUTERS) CHURCH EXTERIOR VARIOUS OF MEMORIAL MARY SMALLS, MEMBER OF EMANUEL AME CHURCH WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARY SMALLS, MEMBER OF EMANUEL AME CHURCH, SAYING: "And the oldest lady who got killed in this church was my momma's girlfriend. They were in the choir together. This hurts a lot because this is
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA43B35LCZ90IW1QWLJNO6E5LZH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As police announce murder charges against the suspect of the deadly shooting of nine black people at a historic South Carolina church, mourners in the city of Charleston remain struggling to understand what happened.
    Charleston police on Friday (June 19) charged 21-year-old Dylann Roof with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm following Wednesday's attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
    U.S. officials are investigating Roof's attack, in which four ministers were killed including a Democratic state senator, as a hate crime. It comes in a year of turmoil in the United States, where police killings of several unarmed black men has provoked national debates about race relations, policing and the criminal justice system.
    A memorial of flowers, candles and letters has grown at the steps of the church, drawing mourners from all over.
    Mary Smalls, a Charleston native, came to tears during his visit on Friday morning.
    "And the oldest lady who got killed in this church was my momma's girlfriend. They were in the choir together. This hurts a lot because this is the family church. I can't take it," Smalls said.
    South Carolina Lindsey Graham, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, was among several public officials to visit and pay his respects. He said he and the entire state are struggling to understand how the incident unfolded in a church.
    "The church has been a historical sanctuary particularly for the black community but really all communities. The fact that someone can sit in a church by a pastor apparently for an hour and get up and shoot people is just hard for me to absorb, quite frankly," Graham said.
    The church, known as "Mother Emanuel," was founded in the early 19th century by black worshippers who were limited in how they could practice their faith at white-dominated churches. Burned to the ground in the late 1820s when one of its founders drafted plans for a slave revolt, the church was later rebuilt.
    "Yeah. Apparently he shot these people because they were black. The world is crazy right now. Thousands of people are being killed in the Mideast because of religious differences. This is 2015. I guess this is a wake-up call. And even in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the nicest places on Earth, even in a church in 2015, crazy people abound. That's what this guy was. A crazy guy. Not in terms of being mentally incompetent - just being mean and hateful and crazy. I can't explain it. There's just no way I can explain what would motivate a person to do this," Graham added.
    In addition to the church's leader and Democratic state Senator Clementa Pinckney, other victims included three pastors - DePayne Middleton Doctor, 49; Sharonda Coleman Singleton, 45; and Reverend Daniel Simmons, 74.
    Also killed were Cynthia Hurd, 54, a public library employee; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lance, 70; Tywanza Sanders, 26; and Myra Thompson 59, an associate pastor at the church, according to the county coroner.
    The killings of Pinckney and Simmons struck a chord with Matthew Spears, a minister who was already traveling to Charleston from Baltimore.
    "As a minister, I know that spiritually as all ministers and preachers we're always being attacked, so I'm here to go ahead and just participate and share and give my strength and support, my love and my prayers to my brothers and sisters that here," Spears said.
    A city-organized vigil is planned for Friday evening.
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