A prayer and a plea: S.C. church shooting case ends with 911 call

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A survivor of the Charleston church slayings called 911 shortly after Dylann Roof opened fire and killed nine of her friends during a Bible study. Polly Sheppard’s call, played for jurors on Wednesday, starts with a prayer and a plea for help: “Please answer. Oh, God.”

When the recording ended, Sheppard staggered from the witness stand and several family members rushed to help her down the aisle and out of the courtroom as she stared blankly ahead.

Prosecutors rested their case in Roof ’s federal death penalty trial and his lawyers called no witnesses. Roof ’s attorneys have conceded there is no disputing the facts of the case and have tried to focus on whether he should face or life in prison.

Roof, who is white, is charged with hate crimes in what prosecutors say was a racially motivated attack on nine black worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Jurors will hear closing arguments today.

Sheppard said she dove under a table when the first shots were fired. She heard boom after boom as Roof ’s black boots inched closer. She prayed out loud. Roof pointed his .Glock at her and told her to shut up, she said.

Roof asked if he had shot her yet. Sheppard said no. Roof said he wanted to leave her alive to tell the world why he attacked an African-American church. “‘I have to. I have to,’” Sheppard recalled Roof telling her. “‘You’re raping our women and taking over the nation.’”