CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Wednesday marks five years since the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston.
The racially-targeted attack claimed the lives of 9 African Americans who were attending Bible study at the church, including Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, who was the church’s pastor and a South Carolina state senator, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson.
Five people survived the shooting which included two children.
Shortly after sunrise, a group of runners stopped by the church to pay their respects and leave flowers and tributes at the church’s front gate.
It was an incredibly powerful moment as they were seen kneeling and holding a moment of silence.
