Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the weekly Bible study group convened in the basement hall of the historic Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C.
But, as The National ENQUIRER can now reveal in this special report, all that changed when a skinny young man with a bowl haircut joined the group – setting the stage for the racially motivated, cold-blooded massacre of nine innocent people.
Rev. Clementa Pinckney was about to begin the regular 8 p.m. Wednesday session on June 17, when the stranger in a gray sweatshirt walked in.
The man was unknown to the others in this predominately black neighborhood, and Rev. Pinckney said he could sit next to him, “being the nice, kind, welcoming person that he is,” a relative said.
About an hour later, the true intentions of 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof became clear.
He began disagreeing with the others in the room, but no one expected what came next.
Roof coldly whipped out a .45-caliber Glock pistol – a $300 weapon he legally obtained in April.
Then, according to witnesses, Roof said, “I have to do it!”
He then began unleashing a hail of bullets.
The horror lasted for upwards of two minutes as the crazed assassin reloaded his gun at least five times!
“You’ve raped our women and you are taking over the country!” Roof told 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders.
Despite his hateful words, witnesses said Tywanza tried to calmly convince Roof to stop the carnage.
Then the courageous barber with a brilliant smile stood in front of the madman’s weapon in a bid to protect his aunt, 87-year-old Susie Jackson.
Ignoring Tywanza’s pleas, Roof replied: “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to shoot all of you,” according to Tywanza’s aunt, Kristen Washington, who heard the account from a survivor.
Gutsy Tywanza dove in front of the bullets intended for Susie.
Tragically, they both died. Meanwhile, Tywanza’s mother, Felicia, and her granddaughter played dead by lying motionless amid pooling blood on the floor.
“He shot the young man [Tywanza] and his mother was there – she witnessed [it],” said Rev. Pinckney’s cousin, Sylvia Johnson. “She watched her son fall and lay there, and she laid there in his blood.”
Roof told one survivor “she was going to live so that she can tell the story of what happened,” said a local councilman.
Eight victims were dead at the scene. The ninth passed away at a hospital. Three people survived the unholy bloodbath.
Roof fled the scene in his black Hyundai.
An eagle-eyed florist, identified as Debbie Dills, spotted him the next morning some 245 miles northwest. Debbie tailed Roof’s vehicle for about 30 miles until police in Shelby, N.C., were able to apprehend him without incident.
