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Denver AME Community Gathers For Prayer Vigil After Church Shooting

DENVER (CBS4) - The Shorter Community AME Church in Denver gathered for a prayer vigil on Thursday night following the shooting massacre that left nine dead at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday.

Relationships between the churches stretch across the country, including the Denver community.

The Shorter Community AME Church in Denver is a sister church to Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Their pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, is one of the nine killed. He and Tyler had been friends.

Sen. Clementa Pinckney
Sen. Clementa Pinckney (credit: CBS)

"We were talking about him possibly coming here to preach," Tyler said.

Thursday night the congregation and others from the community gathered at the church in Park Hill on Thursday for a prayer vigil that was scheduled to last three hours.

Tyler led the congregation in prayer to remember those killed in the shooting and promote healing within the community. During the vigil, the congregation also discussed ways to make the church safer. It's one of the largest AME churches in Colorado with hundreds of members.

church vigil
The Shorter AME Community Church gathered for a prayer vigil (credit: CBS)

Tyler said emotions are still running high in Denver over allegations of brutality at the Denver County Jail following the death of Marvin Booker, a black homeless street preacher.

Booker died in 2010 after deputies shocked him with a stun gun while he was handcuffed, put him in a sleeper hold and lay on top of him, apparently in an effort to control him.

Authorities say the motivation for shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof was hate. According to a report by the FBI, in 2013 victims reported about 5,900 hate crimes. Of those, nearly half were racially-based.

Dylann Storm Roof
Dylann Storm Roof (credit: CBS)

"In this situation, after we've lost our faith, after we've lost our courage, after we've lost our loved ones, after we've lost our will to keep going; the Lord always shows up at the right time and he restores for us the things that we need," Tyler said.

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