Tywanza Sanders: Charleston Church Shooting Victim Jumped In Front Of Aunt, Tried To Talk Down Shooter

The youngest Charleston church shooting victim, 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders, is being hailed a hero after it was reported that the young man stood between the shooter and his 87-year-old aunt.

The “peacemaker” Sanders attempted to talk down shooter Dylann Roof from committing the horrifying crime, but Roof told the hero, “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to shoot all of you.”

Roof then shot Sanders and his aunt along with seven others at the Emanual AME Church bible study group.

The Daily Mail reports that Tywanza Sanders was at the Wednesday night Bible study at the Emanual AME Church in Charleston when Dylann Roof opened fire on the churchgoers. Sanders immediately jumped in front of his 87-year-old aunt and attempted to talk the shooter out of his killing spree. However, Roof refused to listen and said that Sanders efforts were in vain as he was going to “shoot all of you” anyway.

Dylann Roof then opened fire after sitting through the hour-long Bible study with his victims. After the Bible study was over, Roof took out a gun and pointed it at the church-goers. At this point, witnesses say Sanders told Roof that he didn’t have to do this.

Despite his pleas, Roof responded, “Yes. You are raping our women and taking over the country.”

The shooter then opened fire on the room as Sanders jumped in front of his aunt to shield her body. Sadly, both Sanders and his aunt passed away in the race-hate shooting.

NBC News reports that 21-year-old Roof admitted that he almost backed out of the shooting after the church members were “so nice to him.” Roof said that despite the friendly nature of the church members, he had to “go through with his mission.” The mission was to prevent African-American people from “taking over the country.” Therefore, Roof targeted the Emanual AME Church in Charleston as it is one of the nation’s oldest African-American churches.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Tywanza Sanders posted images to Snapchat from the Bible study prior to the shooting. Shooter Dylann Roof, the only white person in the group, could be seen in the photos.

Prosecutors have said they will try to charge Dylann Roof with a hate crime and will seek the death penalty in the case.

[Image Credit: Facebook]