The Charleston Church Shooting
Nine members of Mother Emanuel AME Church were murdered during Bible study in a racist attack. Dylann Roof was convicted on 33 federal counts and sentenced to death; his convictions remain in force while a separate post-conviction petition is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2026.
On the evening of June 17, 2015, worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston welcomed a visitor into their Bible study. The visitor, Dylann Storm Roof, had selected the historic Black church for a racially motivated attack. Nine people were killed.
The nine victims
The U.S. Department of Justice identifies the nine people killed as Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton and Myra Thompson. Five other church members survived the attack.
Investigation and arrest
Roof fled Charleston after the killings and was arrested the following day in North Carolina. Federal investigators developed a case centered on the attack's racial motivation and its interference with the victims' exercise of religion. The prosecution did not need to rely on speculation about an unknown attacker: Roof was identified, apprehended and tried.
Federal trial
On December 15, 2016, a federal jury convicted Roof on all 33 counts, including federal hate-crime charges, obstruction of religious exercise and firearms offenses. On January 10, 2017, the same jury selected the death penalty on the capital counts. The district court formally imposed the sentence the next day.
Direct appeals
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously affirmed Roof's convictions and death sentence on August 25, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition for certiorari on October 11, 2022. Those decisions left the federal judgment intact.
Current post-conviction status
A later collateral proceeding does not erase the conviction. In 2025, Roof sought the recusal of the federal trial judge in connection with post-conviction litigation. The Fourth Circuit denied relief, and Roof filed a new petition for certiorari in April 2026. The Supreme Court docket shows the United States filed its opposition on July 15, 2026 and the petition was distributed for the Court's September 28, 2026 conference. As of August 27, 2026, that petition is still pending; Roof's convictions and death sentence remain in force.
Timeline
- Nine worshippers are killed
The attack occurs during Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church.
- Roof is arrested
Law enforcement takes him into custody in North Carolina.
- Federal convictions
A jury finds Roof guilty on all 33 federal counts.
- Death sentence
The jury selects the death penalty and the district court enters judgment.
- Fourth Circuit affirms
The federal appellate court upholds both conviction and sentence.
- Certiorari denied
The Supreme Court declines review of the direct appeal.
- New petition distributed
A separate post-conviction recusal petition is distributed for the Supreme Court's September 28, 2026 conference.
Current status
The case is classified as Solved / Adjudicated. Roof's guilt was established at trial and affirmed on direct appeal. The pending 2026 Supreme Court petition concerns a later post-conviction recusal issue and has not vacated the federal judgment.
This page reports the racist motive established in the federal prosecution without amplifying white-supremacist propaganda. It also separates a pending collateral petition from the finality of the underlying direct appeal.
Sources and further reading
- U.S. Department of Justice — Mother Emanuel victims memorial, June 17, 2020
- U.S. Department of Justice — Federal jury sentences Dylann Roof to death, January 10, 2017
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit — direct appeal affirmed, August 25, 2021
- U.S. Supreme Court — direct-appeal certiorari docket, denied October 11, 2022
- U.S. Supreme Court — 2026 post-conviction petition docket
Last reviewed: August 27, 2026