“He’s going to pay for what he’s done,” Cowles told the Times. I'd pull the switch myself, if they'd let me.”

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Cowles said the family was devastated.

“He’ll get no sympathy from us, any of us.”

Six women and three men died after being shot while attending a Bible study group at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church Wednesday night.

Roof, 21, was arrested early Thursday in North Carolina and was taken back to South Carolina for arraignment.

Prior to his interview with the Times, Cowles reportedly told other media outlets that Roof’s father had given him a gun for his 21st birthday in April.

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com