Charleston, South Carolina - Hundreds of people packed a sweltering Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Sunday as it reopened to worshipers after a gunman, identified by authorities as a 21-year-old white man, shot dead nine black church members.
A mostly black congregation swelled to about 400 people for a memorial service remembering those killed on Wednesday in the latest US mass shooting, some wiping away tears and praying as the organ began to play. Outside the church, a large, mostly white crowd gathered to express solidarity with those inside.
Armed police searched bags at the door of the church, home to the oldest African-American congregation in the southern United States, and officers stood at intervals inside the church along the side of the nave and in the gallery. Those attending the service used hand fans to try to keep cool in the heat.
More...
