Charleston street being dedicated to church shooting victims

On June 17, a gunman opened fire during a Bible study session, killing nine members of the church.

Charleston leaders have said they will announce plans on Thursday about how more than $2 million in donations the city collected after the shooting for the victims and the church will be distributed.

The South Carolina Stingrays will host a special Opening Night this season where they will honor and remember the victims, survivors, and families of the Emanuel AME Church shooting by wearing “Charleston Strong” themed jerseys that will be auctioned off with the proceeds to benefit the children of the families. The contributions ranged from 50 cents to $100,000.

Twenty-one-year-old Dylann Roof has been charged with their deaths.

The mayor said the city’s Hope Fund, created the day after the massacre, was also used to cover $300,000 in funeral expenses for the victims, who included Emanuel’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney.

All of the money is in a trust account and will go tax-free to the recipients.

The remaining money will become available in about 10 days, said attorney Joe Rice with the firm Motley Rice in Charleston, part of a team of 42 local attorneys who donated time to come up with a distribution formula.

Opening Night on October 17 will also feature a Magnet Schedule Giveaway to the first 5,000 fans courtesy of Savage Law Firm. But the Stingrays also want to shift some of the focus to the shooting’s three survivors – Polly Sheppard, Felicia Sanders and her granddaughter – who have “kind of felt forgotten” in the hate crime’s aftermath, according to Fisch.

City council member William Dudley Gregorie said in a statement that African Methodist Episcopal bishops planned to join hands in front of the church to dedicate the new street sign, which was unanimously approved by the Charleston City Council as a resolution.

This report contains material from Reuters and the Associated Press.