Sense of security lost, says brother of Charleston shooting victim
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Numbing shock is slowly giving way to mourning in Charleston, where nine people were killed inside the Emmanuel AME church. The alleged gunman behind the massacre, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, is in police custody after being apprehended Thursday in North Carolina.
Among the victims was Cynthia Hurd, a 54-year-old library manager. Her brother, former North Carolina senator Malcolm Graham, remembers her as the sibling who pulled the family together.
"She loved her family, she loved her community, she loved her God," said Graham in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley.
Graham said his sister was deeply committed to her faith and had a special bond with the church.
"We were born and raised in the Emmanuel AME church, my mother and father attended that church, we were baptized in that church so it didn't surprise me that on a Wednesday night she'd be there," said Graham, holding back tears.
Graham said the murder of his sister is a message which we have heard before, but not taken to heart, alluding to the shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut.
"I think anytime you can't go into a house of a God and worship in peace there's a problem with the morality of our country," he said.
"If you can't go into a movie theater and watch a movie in peace, there's a problem. If you're a grade kid and you can't go to class without being a victim to crime there's a problem. I think we lost a sense of security, even being secure in the presence of God."