--- description: "Words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night" title: Roof Family Extends 'Deepest Sympathy' to Bereaved Families of Slain Parishioners image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc3cb442baa0125/69885554f887dc8887e91030/ap464682958662.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Dylann Roof's Family Breaks Silence on Shooting  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 19, 2015 10:25 PM CUT  Dylann Roof, 21, was arrested in the slayings of several people inside The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 18, 2015 Dylann Roof, 21, was arrested in the slayings of several people inside The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 18, 2015AP  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 19, 2015 10:25 PM CUT The family of South Carolina shooter Dylann Roof expressed shock and grief in their first public announcement since Roof allegedly drew a gun on a bible study group, killing 9 people. The statement [supplied](http://www.ajc.com/documents/2015/jun/19/roof-family-statement/ "undefined") to the press on Friday reads: --- > “” --- The 21-year-old, who faces nine charges of murder, appeared in court on Friday for a bond hearing in which his bail was set at $1 million. His next court appearances are scheduled for October 23 and February 5. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3929115/roof-family-statement-church-shootings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3929115/roof-family-statement-church-shootings/"},"headline":"Dylann Roof's Family Breaks Silence on Shooting","datePublished":"2015-06-19T22:25:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:22:54.555Z","description":"\"Words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night\"","url":"https://time.com/3929115/roof-family-statement-church-shootings/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc3cb442baa0125/69885554f887dc8887e91030/ap464682958662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc3cb442baa0125/69885554f887dc8887e91030/ap464682958662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Charleston Shooting","caption":"Charleston Shooting","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3929115/roof-family-statement-church-shootings/","name":"Dylann Roof's Family Breaks Silence on Shooting"}}]}] ```