Hundreds unite to honor victims two years after Charleston shooting

Saturday marked two years since the tragic shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Dylann Roof walked into a Bible study and gunned down nine parishioners.

It was announced Saturday that the architect who designed the Sept. 11 memorial has been chosen to create a memorial on the church’s grounds to honor the nine victims.

Hundreds gathered in downtown Charleston Saturday to honor the victims with a ''Hate Won’t Win'' unity walk.

The goal was to bring people of different races, religions and backgrounds together to contest hate and spread love across the world.

The day after Roof gunned down the churchgoers he took backroads through Charlotte and was arrested in Shelby after a traffic stop.

Investigators said Roof had a handwritten note with the names of several churches in his car, as well as a Confederate flag, a gun and an empty ammunition box.

On Friday, leaders from various parts of the community gathered in Charleston to discuss ways to make progress on racial issues.

Throughout the evening, political leaders, community activists and the widow of a fallen police officer participated in conversations on law enforcement, history, economics and education.

A final discussion about how the city of Charleston is healing from the June 2015 tragedy at Emanuel AME Church featured relatives of some of those killed, including the widow of slain pastor and state Sen. Clementa Pinckney.

Rood, a self-avowed white supremacist, is on federal death row for the killings.

Roof received nine life sentences in state court for the 2015 massacre on top of the death sentence he had already received during his federal case.

Cox Media Group