Grandson of Charleston victim reflects on Nashville church shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The shooting near Nashville is opening old wounds for people in the Charlotte area.

Eyewitness News reporter Stephanie Tinoco spoke the grandson of one of the victims who died in the Charleston church shooting more than two years ago.

Brandon Risher, a psychologist, who spoke at a mental health forum Sunday morning at Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, said Sunday’s church shooting shows there is such a need for quality mental health for victims and families.

The church is a safe haven that was violated.

In Nashville, a woman is dead and six others injured after a man went on a shooting rampage at a church.

The church shooting in Tennessee took Risher back to a place of pain.

His grandmother was one of nine people killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston two years ago.

"It brings up things personally for me anytime I hear about a church shooting,” Risher said. “I really feel and want to send out my condolences to the people at the church and for the victims and their families."

Risher was one of the professionals speaking about the gaps in mental health in the Charlotte area.

Risher shared his personal process of recovery when his grandmother was killed in Charleston.

"I was trying to figure out what in the world do I do with myself? My job is to care for people, and now I'm having to be cared for,” Risher said.

Risher said there needs to be affordable access and availability to mental health for everyone in the area.

“A lot of times people receive services, but it’s not quality,” he said.

The mental health forum addressed the stigma of mental health patients while tackling how the lack of opportunity, financial hardship, crime and violence can affect mental health and the need for it.

Cox Media Group