10 Years Later: Reflecting on the Charleston Church Shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – It has been 10 years since the Lowcountry was changed forever when a gunman walked into historic Mother Emanuel and opened fire during a Buble study.

It was the night of June 17, 2015, a group attending Bible study at Emanuel AME Church welcomed a young man in with open arms. It was just after 8 p.m. when he pulled out a gun and shot nine innocent people.

Six women and three men were killed that night. Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson, and State Senator Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney.

Five people also in the church that night survived the shooting – Rev. Pinckney’s wife, Jennifer, and their daughters, Felicia Sanders and her 5-year-old granddaughter, and Polly Sheppard.

The community was devastated; the church remained strong and showed the world what resilience means. And as the eyes of the world were on Charleston, those impacted by the tragedy were a symbol of resilience, faith, and grace.

“You took something very precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. Have mercy on your soul. It hurt me, it hurt a lot of people, but I forgive you,” said one victim’s family member during a bond hearing for the shooter.

As the world mourned the nine lives lost, then-President Barack Obama traveled to Charleston to speak at the funeral for Sen. Pinckney and the shooting victims.

“A preacher by 13, a pastor by 18, a public servant by 23. What a life Clementa Pinckney lived. What an example he set. What a model for his faith. And then to lose him at 41 – slain in his sanctuary with eight wonderful members of his flock,” Obama said during the ceremony, adding: “As a nation, out of this terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us. For he has allowed us to see where we’ve been blind.”

The church will hold a special service Tuesday honoring the Emanuel 9 and the five survivors. News 2 will carry that service live.

South Carolina Democrats will also host a town hall to discuss gun control legislation, and a proclamation will be read at Charleston City Council to declare Tuesday a Day of Remembrance for the victims and survivors.

Mother Emanuel’s pastor, Rev. Eric Manning, will then give the invocation at the city council meeting.