On Sunday evening, thousands of residents from the Charleston area converged on the roughly 2.5-mile-long Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge connecting Charleston and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina in a memorial event dedicated to the memories of the nine people killed Wednesday night at a historic church in Charleston.
According to the event's Facebook page, the event continued as the sun set. Initial local news reports estimated as many as 3,000 people would attend but late estimates were around triple that.
Police officer estimated 10,000 people here, another man says 15,000 #unitychaincharleston #chsnews— Melissa Boughton (@mboughtonPC) June 22, 2015
Estimates of 20,000 people now. #BridgeToPeace— Sam Tyson (@SamInteractive) June 22, 2015
Among the throngs was South Carolina native Stephen Colbert.
Peace and Love and Unity in the Holy City pic.twitter.com/4XWHW866BH— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) June 22, 2015
.@StephenAtHome took part in tonight's #unitychaincharleston #BridgeToPeace event! @GraceBeahm snapped this photo. pic.twitter.com/XPzK9eUd4o— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 22, 2015
The event began with a small ceremony on the Mount Pleasant side of the bridge and included a nine-minute moment of silence to honor the nine victims of Wednesday's shooting.
#UnityChainCharleston pic.twitter.com/I4WHr3AkQq— schuyler kropf (@skropf47) June 22, 2015
My amazing #Charleston, I ❤️ you! #UnityChainCharleston #StandWithCharleston #CharlestonStrong #OneCharleston #NoHate pic.twitter.com/PcGh2YO3KY— Gabrielle (@BreeSanders22) June 22, 2015
#Charleston's hands and hearts are linked tonight in #UnityChainCharleston. #CharlestonStrong #IamAME #BridgetoPeace pic.twitter.com/2glt2FOMoJ— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 22, 2015
Heading up the Ravenel Bridge #CharlestonUnited #BridgeToPeace pic.twitter.com/6cgOEsrc4n— Dustin Waters (@MNreports) June 22, 2015
Hands across Charleston #unitychaincharleston #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/NqYRg1jkUa— Glenn Smith (@glennsmith5) June 22, 2015
#CharlestonStrong indeed #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/k0T6kgAj26— Glenn Smith (@glennsmith5) June 22, 2015
On the sidewalk people have written messages to the victims' families #BridgeToPeace pic.twitter.com/yTsHGC5Lp0— Sam Tyson (@SamInteractive) June 22, 2015
You can sense the crowd absorbing the human bridge event. #charlestonshooting .@postandcourier pic.twitter.com/9ajmahLR3X— Matthew Fortner (@MatthewFortner) June 22, 2015
Crowd clapping and singing "Let it Shine" #unitychaincharleston #chsnews #BridgetoPeace #CharlestonShooting— Melissa Boughton (@mboughtonPC) June 22, 2015
#Charleston and #MountPleasant meet in middle of the #RavenelBridge. #UnityChainCharleston #BridgeToPeace complete! pic.twitter.com/GyeNXHgeM1— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 22, 2015
A sea of vessels waiting to see the people of their holy city come together as one #unitychaincharleston #chsnews pic.twitter.com/7HyMioHLRS— Melissa Boughton (@mboughtonPC) June 21, 2015
We #StandWithCharleston tonight as the sun sets behind this beautiful #UnityChainCharleston #BridgeToPeace event. pic.twitter.com/ItFMbAMO2Q— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 22, 2015
Mount Pleasant side of Unity Walk #CharlestonShooting @postandcourier pic.twitter.com/HM1kS4xlSp— David Quick (@DavidQuick) June 21, 2015
"You are about to make history." Go #Charleston! #UnityChainCharleston #BridgeToPeace #CharlestonStrong pic.twitter.com/yFJO8x8f89— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 21, 2015