Mayor: Prayers of Charlestonians are with those in Orlando

CHARLESTON, SC (AP) — Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg says the prayers of Charlestonians are with those in Orlando after 50 people were killed there in the worst mass shooting in American history.

Tecklenburg says in a statement it was a year ago that Charlestonians came face-to-face with the same kind of evil that those in Orlando must now reckon with.

The anniversary of shootings of nine parishioners at Emanuel AME Church is Friday.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says her heart hurts at the news from Orlando shootings.

“We don’t have to agree all the time but hate is never the answer,” she said on her Twitter account Sunday. “Pray for the injured & the families of the victims.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott tweeted “my prayers are with the victims and their families.”

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