People prayed, dropped colorful flowers and wrote inspirational notes today at the black church where nine people were fatally shot earlier this week at the end of a Bible study meeting.
The memorial in front of the "Mother" Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church continued to grow and a steady stream of people passed by to pay their respects.
Less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, the shooting suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, sat in a jail cell, facing nine counts of murder and a weapons charge.
Yesterday, some of the family members of the shooting victims got a chance to speak to Roof at his bail hearing.
Because he appeared via videoconference, he could not see them speak, but he could hear them.
"We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms," said Felecia Sanders, who survived the attack, but lost her son Tywanza. "You have killed some of the most beautifulest people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts ... And I'll never be the same."
"Tywanza was my hero."
Other family members offered forgiveness and mercy to Roof. One even told Roof to repent and confess, and "you'll be OK."
Hours after the bond hearing, thousands of people filled a basketball arena for a community vigil for the victims. Those in attendance were white and black, young and old.
"When I was a child, we still had Jim Crow segregation and I'm so thankful that it's so hard for my children to believe that this area was so segregated," said Lynda Scharborough, a white woman who brought her 5-year-old grandson to the vigil.
The victims included the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator who doubled as the church's lead pastor, and eight others who played multiple roles in their families and communities: ministers and coaches, teachers and a librarian, counselors and choir singers and the elderly sexton who made sure the church was kept clean.
A police affidavit released Friday accused Roof of shooting all nine multiple times, and making a "racially inflammatory statement" as he stood over an unidentified survivor.
Roof's public defender released a statement from his family offering prayers and sympathy for the victims, and expressing "shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night.
