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Podcasts Take Two
Orange County AME reverend reflects on South Carolina shooting
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Jun 18, 2015
Listen • 6:18
Orange County AME reverend reflects on South Carolina shooting
Rev. Mark E. Whitlock, pastor at Christ Our Redeemer, African Methodist Episcopal Church in Irvine, shared his response to the shooting.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) (L) joins members of the US House of Representatives and members of the US Senate in a prayer circle in front of the US Capitol to honor those gunned down last night inside the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina, June 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. Police have arrested Dylann Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina in the shooting that killed 9 people. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) (L) joins members of the US House of Representatives and members of the US Senate in a prayer circle in front of the US Capitol to honor those gunned down last night inside the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina, June 18, 2015 in Washington, DC. Police have arrested Dylann Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina in the shooting that killed 9 people. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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Rev. Mark E. Whitlock, pastor at Christ Our Redeemer, African Methodist Episcopal Church in Irvine, shared his response to the shooting.

Three men and six women died in a shooting Wednesday night during a bible study session inside of the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 

The suspect of the shooting has been identified as 21-year-old Dylann Roof.  Police are calling the shooting a hate crime.

Rev. Mark E. Whitlock, pastor at Christ Our Redeemer, African Methodist Episcopal Church in Irvine, shared his response to the shooting. Whitlock says at this time the church is praying for peace.  “We must deal with gun control and making sure that the church is a place of peace and that the people who come to church are protected. We must not allow this to disturb the members of every congregation, because when the church is not a safe place where is?"

Click on the blue player above to listen to the interview