Church Shooting Rampage Hits Home for CLT Family
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CHARLESTON, SC — Families continued searching for comfort Thursday outside the Emanuel AME Church where investigators say members welcomed Dylann Roof one night earlier before he turned a gun on them.
“You try to rationalize what happened, and there’s no rationalization for it,” said Former State Senator Malcolm Graham from Mecklenburg County.
Graham’s sister, Cynthia Hurd, was one of the nine killed in the rampage.
“She was in church, something she’s done every Wednesday for a number of years, something that we all do,” said Graham. “You would expect the safety and security and sanctity.”
Police call the shooting a hate crime at the historic, primarily African-American, church. Surveillance photos show Roof entering before 9:00 Wednesday night where investigators say he listened to the service before opening fire.
“It’s just going to be a lifetime of memories,” said Alvin Mitchell. “Bad memories.”
Mitchell stopped by the memorial outside the church Thursday to honor his friends and fellow church members killed.
Leslie Jones grew up in the same hometown as Roof in Lexington County, South Carolina. Another victim was the church’s Reverend Clementa Pickney, a father of two who was elected as the youngest African American Senator in the state in the ’90s. A man Jones’ family knew well.
“You just can’t wrap your head around it, you know?” said Jones. “It’s a safe haven for people, you know, of any color, not just black or white. Just hate to see it, you know? It’s just terrible.”
The pastor of a nearby church, John Brown, was with families the night they learned of the rampage.
“Everybody was still, each moment, hoping what they were hearing was not true,” said Brown.
Detectives say the church members tried to talk Roof out of the massacre. Although, they won’t confirm at this point why he said he felt he needed to kill the victims.
“Evidently he’s sick, and so I don’t waste my energy thinking about him at all,” said Graham. “I’m thinking of my sister.”
For now, Roof awaits his court appearance. Families are planning funerals.
