CHARLESTON, S.C. — Monday marks a somber anniversary as it’s been nine years since the tragic mass shooting at a historic Black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
A gunman killed nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015.
The victims, referred to as “The Emanuel Nine,” are remembered as brothers, sisters, community leaders, and prayer warriors.
Last summer, people gathered at the historic church to break ground on a memorial site. It will have two parts: the survivors’ garden, and the fellowship benches.
The benches will be placed around a marble fountain where the names of The Emanuel Nine will be engraved.
The memorial is still under construction. The goal is to have phase one done by next summer, on the 10-year mark of the shooting.
Rev. Eric Manning, the pastor of Mother Emanuel AME, says this space is important to the healing process.
“It is our sincere prayer that we will be able to develop the outreach programming, and it will continue to help people build stronger communities, and of course be able to understand that we are stronger together,” Manning said to our partners at WPDE.
Officials say they expect more than 150,000 visitors to the memorial each year once it’s complete.
The gunman, Dylann Roof, became the first person in the U.S. sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. Roof later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
(WATCH: Remembering the Emanuel 9)
©2024 Cox Media Group
