Mayor Calls For Moment of Silence For Charleston Shooting Victims

The mayor of one of Georgia’s largest cities is calling upon his residents to take a moment and think about the lives that have been forever changed by the actions of a lone gunman in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul and the Sandy Springs City Council have issued a request for the community to take a pause at 3 p.m. Thursday, “to direct thoughts of healing for the shooting victims and their families in Charleston, South Carolina.”

“We are asking for one-minute silent tribute, to let these families and the Charleston community know that our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Paul said in a statement.

Operations at Sandy Springs City Hall will cease at 3 p.m. for the minute-long tribute, the city said.

“To conduct such an act in a house of worship, a place where no matter your race or religion, you should feel safe, is heinous beyond words,” Paul added. “This type of hate cannot be tolerated.”

Police say 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof of Lexington, South Carolina, allegedly walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and opened fire Wednesday evening during a prayer meeting, CNN.com reports.

Nine people, including South Carolina State Senator and church pastor Rev. Clementa Pinckney, were killed in what police are calling a hate crime.

CBS News reports Roof was arrested around 11:15 a.m. Thursday during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina. CBS also reports the FBI has launched a hate crime investigation into the shooting, which resulted in the deaths of six women and three men.

According to USA Today, the church is considered the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the American south.

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