Two years later, remembering the Emanuel Nine

Two years ago Saturday, nine lives were taken in a sacred space in the Holy City.

The massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church shook South Carolina, while the victims’ families responded with grace through their immense grief.

Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, the Rev. Daniel Simmons, the Rev. Sharonda Singleton and Myra Thomspon were killed June 17, 2015 by Dylann Roof.

The victims had gathered that Wednesday night, as they did every week, to pray and worship and study the Bible together. Roof sat among them for about an hour before opening fire, aiming first at the church’s pastor, Pinckney, who also was a state senator.

The gunman was sentenced to death earlier this year for committing one of the worst mass killings in South Carolina history.

In the two years since the tragedy, the state has mourned and healed together. Though justice has been served on the culprit, the lives he took have not been forgotten.

This story was originally published June 17, 2017 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Two years later, remembering the Emanuel Nine."