The young man who murdered nine people on Wednesday in a racially motivated massacre tried to kill himself after the horrific incident.
Dylann Roof is said to have put a gun to his own head when he was done slaughtering a group of people attending a Bible study group at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, but when he pulled the trigger realized he was out of bullets. This new claim was revealed by an eyewitness to the scene, who shared the information with Kevin Singleton.
Singleton, whose mother Myra Thompson was shot dead by Roof, told the Los Angeles Times; ‘He pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.’ This according to Polly Sheppard, one of just two adults who survived the mass shooting.
‘His plan was never to leave that church,’ he added. Singleton also relayed that it appeared Roof, 21, may have just wanted to kill the church’s beloved pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, but unloaded after 74-year-old Reverend Daniel Simmons fought with him, trying to stop the atrocious act from happening.
A family member of Sheppard refused to comment about any of Singelton’s claims. As for his loss, Singleton spoke of his mother outside the church on Sunday where they were holding their first service since the tragedy.
‘What I’m going to miss most about my mom is her enthusiasm and her just undeniable faith in the world to succeed,’ he told ABC News. ‘I miss her a lot and I love her very much. She’s a very strong, strong woman. It’s just a lot.’
Roof was captured a day after the shooting in Shelby, North Carolina, over 250 miles away from the scene of the crime.
He has been charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and is being held on $1million bond for just the firearm possession charge.