Remembering Mother Emanuel: Finding grace in our grief

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – It was the evening of June 17, 2015. A racially motivated shooting during a Bible study at a historic downtown church left nine people dead, and the Lowcountry was forever changed.

Church members gathered at Emanuel AME Church and welcomed a young man for fellowship and prayer. After roughly an hour into the Bible study, the shooter pulled out a gun and began to open fire while making racially inflammatory remarks.

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

He was seen on the church’s surveillance video leaving with a gun still in his hand.

Five people survived the shooting, including Felicia Sanders, the mother of Tywanza Sanders, and her 5-year-old granddaughter Ka’mya Manigault, along with Polly Sheppard. Jennifer Pinckney, the wife of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, and their daughter, 6-year-old Malana, were in Rev. Pinckney’s office across the hall at the time of the shooting.

The shooter told some of the survivors that he wanted them to tell the world what happened there that night.

Word of the shooting began to spread. Law enforcement was quickly on the scene and locked the area down as they searched for the suspect.

It was almost 11 p.m. when police officials described the suspect. Not long after, a bystander who matched that description was detained nearby and later released after questioning.

In the early morning hours, then-Mayor Joe Riley and Chief of Police Greg Mullins delivered news about what happened inside the church.

“To have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable,” said Mayor Riley. “Obviously, the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible.”

Despite a killer still on the run, people gathered in downtown Charleston, offering prayer, crying, still wondering what exactly happened inside that historic church.

Law enforcement identified the shooter the following morning, and the search for that suspect expanded beyond the Lowcountry. It wasn’t long after that the shooter was taken into custody after a motorist recognized him from news reports in Shelby, North Carolina.

He was brought back to Charleston County with help from law enforcement partners and brought to a bond hearing. It was there that the victims’ families would see the killer and respond with the ultimate act of forgiveness.

“I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul,” said the daughter of one victim.

The message of unity and forgiveness grew stronger among the Charleston community. Thousands of people gathered for a unity walk across the Ravenel Bridge, offering prayer, singing songs, carrying signs – one message that love is stronger than hate.