Pastor, 3 Other Ministers Among Victims Of Charleston, S.C., Shooting

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're learning more about the nine people killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. They were among a group gathered for a Wednesday night Bible study there. The gunman is said to have sat with the congregants for nearly an hour before the shooting.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Those killed include Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor and a state senator. He was 41 years old. Pinckney was a major figure in South Carolina politics. He was named 15 years ago by Ebony magazine as one of 30 African-American leaders of the future.

CORNISH: Three other ministers are among the victims. The Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor sang in the church choir. She was 49. She had earlier worked for county government and for the U.S. Department of Commerce.

BLOCK: The Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was also the coach of the girls' track team at a nearby high school. Seventy-four year-old Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. died in an operating room at the Medical University of South Carolina as doctors struggled to save him.

CORNISH: The other victims are Myra Thompson, who was 59, and Susie Jackson, age 87.

BLOCK: Also, Susie Jackson's cousin, Ethyl Lance, aged 70. She had worked at the Emmanuel AME Church for 30 years, according to her family.

CORNISH: Twenty-six-year-old Tywanza Sanders had just recently graduated from Allen University in Columbia, S.C., with a degree in business administration.

BLOCK: Cynthia Hurd, age 54, also died last night. She was a librarian for 30 years in the Charleston County Public Library system. Sixteen branch locations were closed today to honor her and the other victims. No details have yet been released on funerals or memorials. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.