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Charleston church shooting

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"2015 Charleston shooting" redirects here. For the shooting by a North Charleston police officer, see Shooting of Walter Scott.
Charleston church shooting
The steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston
The steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Charleston church shooting is located in South Carolina
Charleston church shooting
Charleston church shooting (South Carolina)
LocationCharleston, South Carolina, United States
Coordinates32°47′14″N 79°55′59″W / 32.78722°N 79.93306°W / 32.78722; -79.93306
DateJune 17, 2015 (2015-06-17)
c. 9:05 p.m. (EDT)
TargetAfrican American churchgoers
Attack type
Deaths9[1]
Injured1[2]
PerpetratorsDylann Roof
MotiveUnclear, Suspected hate crime[1]

On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The church is one of the United States' oldest black churches. The senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a state senator, was among the nine people killed.[3] In the immediate aftermath, police sought a white male, later identified as Dylann Roof. He was captured the morning after the attack in Shelby, North Carolina.[4]

Background

The 199-year-old church played an important role in the state's history, including the slavery era, the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. According to Robert Greene at the University of South Carolina, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is "not just a church. It’s also a symbol … of black freedom.”[5] The church was founded in 1816 and is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel".[3][6] It is the oldest historically black congregation south of Baltimore. One of the church's co-founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to start a slave rebellion in Charleston. The plot was discovered on June 17, 1822, and 35 people were executed, including Vesey.[7] The church was burned down in 1822, before being rebuilt in 1834.[8]

Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney had held rallies after the shooting of Walter Scott by a white police officer on April 4, 2015 in nearby North Charleston, and as a state senator he pushed for legislation requiring police wear body cameras.[9] The Charleston church shooting reminded Robert Mickey, a University of Michigan political scientist, of the 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, where Ku Klux Klan members killed four black girls and injured fourteen.[5] A number of scholars, journalists, activists, and politicians have emphasized the need to understand the attack in the broader context of racial relations in the United States, rather than seeing it as an isolated event.[10][11][12][13]

Details

At around 9:05 p.m. EDT on June 17, 2015, the Charleston Police Department responded to calls of a shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. church.[7] A man described as white, with sandy-blond hair, around 21 years old and 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) in height, wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans, opened fire on the church during a Bible study attended by Senator Pinckney and then fled.[14][15]

For nearly an hour prior to the attack, the shooter participated and stayed at the Bible study.[16] According to a cousin of one of the victims who talked to one of the survivors, when the shooter was asked why he was attacking the churchgoers, he responded: "I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go."[17] A five-year-old child attending the study survived the shooting by pretending to be dead.[18] Dot Scott, president of the local branch of the NAACP, told CNN she'd heard Roof spared one woman so she could tell other people about the shooting.[19]

Several hours later, a bomb threat was called into the Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Calhoun Street, complicating the investigation and prompting an evacuation of the immediate area.[7][20]

Victims

All of the victims were black, six women and three men. Eight died at the scene. The ninth, Daniel Simmons, died in the hospital.[15][19] One other person was wounded.[2]

Fatalities

Confirmed fatalities are:[21]

  • Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, 54, a bible study member, public library employee and sister of former North Carolina State Senator Malcom Graham[22]
  • Susie Jackson, 87, a bible study member
  • Ethel Lee Lance, 70, a 30-year church Sexton
  • Depayne Middleton, 49, a bible study member
  • Clementa C. Pinckney, 41, church pastor and South Carolina State Senator
  • Myra Thompson, 59, a bible study member
  • Tywanza Sanders, 26, a bible study member and 2014 college graduate from Allen University
  • Daniel Simmons, 74, a reverend at the church.
  • Sharonda Singleton, 45, a reverend at the church and track coach for Goose Creek High School

Suspect

The Federal Bureau of Investigation named Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994 in Columbia, South Carolina), as the suspected killer. One image on his Facebook page shows him in a jacket decorated with the flags of two former nations noted for their white supremacist policies. The flags were of apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia which have become symbols that have been adopted by modern-day white supremacists.[23][24][25]

Reuters reports that his uncle worried that he was "cooped up in his room too much."[26]

Roof has a prior arrest record for drug possession and trespassing.[27][28]

Investigation

A man matching the description of the attacker was initially detained outside a nearby convenience store but was released after police determined he was not the perpetrator.[7] The attack is being treated as a hate crime by police, and officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were called in to assist in the investigation and manhunt.[15]

Roof was captured the morning after the attack in Shelby, North Carolina.[4]

Reactions

Charlestonians gather outside of a prayer vigil honoring the victims of the shooting

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, said, "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another. Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."[29]

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. denounced the attack and said, "Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a horrible hateful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained. We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family."

President Barack Obama held a press conference on June 18, "to express [my] deep sorrow over the senseless murders that took place last night. Michelle and I know several members of Emanuel AME Church. We knew their pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who, along with eight others, gathered in prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. And to say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families, and their community doesn’t say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel."[30]

Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, campaigned earlier that day in Charleston prior to the shooting. She attended a fundraiser at a home less than half a mile (800 m) away and left before the shooting occurred. Pinckney was at the Clinton fundraiser earlier in the day. "Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all," Clinton posted on Twitter.[31][32][33]

2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush postponed campaign events in Charleston scheduled for June 18. A Bush spokesperson said, "Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy".[1]

Senator Rand Paul addressed the shooting while speaking at a conference for the Faith and Freedom Coalition. "What kind of person goes into church and shoots nine people?" Paul asked. "There's a sickness in our country. There's something terribly wrong. But it isn't going to be fixed by your government." Paul's comments contrast with those of President Barack Obama, who called for stricter gun control in a special press conference.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bever, Lindsey; Costa, Robert (June 17, 2015). "9 dead in shooting at historic Charleston African American church. Police chief calls it 'hate crime.'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2015. Cite error: The named reference "WashingtonPost-Shooting-2015" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Charleston church shooting: First picture of 'gunman' on the run after nine people shot dead". Daily Mirror. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Payne, Ed (June 18, 2015). "Charleston church shooting: Multiple fatalities in South Carolina, source says". CNN. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Roof in custody in NC". WIS. WorldNow and WISTV. June 18, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "For Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, shooting is another painful chapter in rich history", by Sarah Kaplan, The Washington Post
  6. ^ Pinckney, Reverend Honorable Clementa C. (February 20, 2015). "Civil Rights Ride 2013 – Clementa C. Pinckney, SC Senate, Pastor Mother Emanuel A.M.E." Mullikin Law Firm. Retrieved June 18, 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d "Nine shot, multiple fatalities reported in downtown church shooting". June 18, 2015.
  8. ^ "US: at least 9 killed in Charleston church massacre". Euronews. June 16, 2015.
  9. ^ Cleary, Tom (June 18, 2015). "Clementa Pinckney Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  10. ^ Friedersdorf, Connor. "Thugs and Terrorists Have Attacked Black Churches for Generations". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  11. ^ Butler, Anthea (June 18, 2015). "Shooters of color are called 'terrorists' and 'thugs.' Why are white shooters called 'mentally ill'?". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  12. ^ "Black lives - and churches - matter". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  13. ^ Greer, Reverend Broderick. "Terrorism in Charleston demands the government act like black lives matter | The Rev Broderick Greer". the Guardian. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  14. ^ McLeod, Harriet (June 17, 2015). "Gunman at large after killing nine at black South Carolina church". Yahoo! News. Reuters. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c "Everything We Know About the Charleston Shooting". TIME. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  16. ^ "Pastor, 8 others, fatally shot at church in Charleston, SC". MSN. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  17. ^ "Church Gunman Reportedly Said: 'I have to do it'". NBC News. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  18. ^ "Charleston shooting: Five-year-old child who 'played dead' among survivors in South Carolina". The Independent. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Who is the Charleston church shooting suspect?". CNN.com. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  20. ^ "Charleston church shooting: police release image of suspect - latest updates". Guardian. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  21. ^ "Charleston Shooting Victims Identified". ABC News. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ "Charleston Church Shooting Suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, Is Captured". New York Times.
  24. ^ "On Facebook, Dylann Roof, Charleston Suspect, Wears Symbols of White Supremacy". New York Times.
  25. ^ "Everything Known About Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Dylann Roff". The Daily Beast. June 18, 2015.
  26. ^ "South Carolina massacre suspect Dylann Roof had apparent interest in white supremacy". Sydney Morning Herald. Reuters. June 19, 2015.
  27. ^ Dylann Storm Roof arrested in North Carolina, KFOR
  28. ^ Old, Jason. "Police: Dylann Roof arrested for trespassing, drug possession at Columbiana Centre". WISTV.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  29. ^ "9 people killed in shooting at black church in Charleston, S.C." CBC. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  30. ^ "Read President Obama's Speech on the Charleston Church Shooting". Time Magazine. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  31. ^ "Update: 6 females, 3 males were killed at church (+ video)". The State. June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  32. ^ "Nine Killed at Historic Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina". NBC News. June 18, 2015.
  33. ^ Horowitz, Jason; Corasaniti, Nick; Southall, Ashley (June 18, 2015). "Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church in Charleston". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  34. ^ "Rand Paul on Charleston Shooting". Bloomberg. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
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