>> IT HIT ME IN THE HEART. I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK. >> RAMON ARNOLD HAD JUST SEEN HIS NIECE, MYKALA BELL, THE DAY BEFORE SHE WENT TO LAVISH LOUNGE FACEBOOK VIDEO SHOWS THE CHAOS THAT ENSUED AT THE NIGHTCLUB DURING A CONCERT. THE VIDEO GOES BLACK AS YOU HEAR GUNSHOTS IN THE BACKGROUND. ONE OF THOSE BULLETS ENDED MYKALA’S LIFE. >> IT JUST HURTS. IT TORE OUR FAMILY UP. MY WIFE HASN’T STOPPED CRYING SINCE IT HAPPENED. HER PARENTS ARE DEVASTATED. IT JUST HURTS. >> EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THIS DARKNESS AND TRIAL, YOU WILL ALWAYS GIVE US A GUIDING LIGHT. >> LESS THAN 24 HOURS, PRAYERS FOR MYKALA A MOTHER OF TWO . AND STERLING JOHNSON, AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS C.J. >> BEAUTIFUL GIRL, FUNNY, FUN, GREAT MOTHER, LOVED AND ADORED HER CHILDREN AND SHE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT REALLY LOVED HE THEY TOOK AWAY A GOOD PERSON FROM U >> FROM FRUSTRATION: >> AND I MARCH THESE STREETS AND I PROTEST AND I SCREAM ’STOP THE VIOLENCE’ AND IT’S NOT ENOUGH I’M TIRED OF IT. >> CHALLENGES: >> WE’VE GOT TO HAVE REAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE ADDRESS VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY. >> PROMISES: >> WE MUST HAVE JUSTICE FOR MYKALA AND FOR CJ. >> DOZENS ROLLED IN TO SHOW SUPPORT, SOME BROUGHT FLOWER OTHERS DONATED MONEY AS INVESTIGATORS WORK TO FIND ANSWERS. >> IT’S LIKE A NIGHTMA
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Dozens pray for peace, justice at vigil for club shooting victims
Prayer vigil took place less than 24 hours after shooting at Lavish Lounge
Updated: 11:17 PM EDT Jul 5, 2020
Dozens turned out for a prayer vigil Sunday evening to honor the victims of a deadly shooting at an Upstate nightclub. Community activists and local pastors gathered with family members of the ten people shot at Lavish Lounge in Greenville County. The shooting happened just before 2 a.m. Sunday, according to deputies. Two people, 23-year-old Mykala Bell and 51-year-old Clarence Johnson, known as CJ, lost their lives in the shooting. Eight other people were injured. Bell was a mother of two young children, according to her uncle Ramon Arnold. “It just hurts,” Arnold said. “It tore our family up. My wife hasn’t stopped crying since it happened. Her parents are devastated. It just hurts.” Arnold said he saw his niece the day before the shooting. Arnold said Bell died supporting an artist at Lavish Lounge. CJ was serving as a security guard at the club when the shooting happened. Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said the club should not have even been open.At Sunday’s vigil, a group of bikers revved their engines, showing up to pay respects. Some people brought flowers, while others donated money to the victims’ families. Speakers at the vigil expressed frustration over crime in the community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve got to have real conversations about how we address violence in our community,” Derrick Quarles of Greenville’s Black Lives Matter chapter said.
Dozens turned out for a prayer vigil Sunday evening to honor the victims of a deadly shooting at an Upstate nightclub. Community activists and local pastors gathered with family members of the ten people shot at Lavish Lounge in Greenville County. The shooting happened just before 2 a.m. Sunday, according to deputies.
Two people, 23-year-old Mykala Bell and 51-year-old Clarence Johnson, known as CJ, lost their lives in the shooting. Eight other people were injured. Bell was a mother of two young children, according to her uncle Ramon Arnold.
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“It just hurts,” Arnold said. “It tore our family up. My wife hasn’t stopped crying since it happened. Her parents are devastated. It just hurts.”
Arnold said he saw his niece the day before the shooting. Arnold said Bell died supporting an artist at Lavish Lounge. CJ was serving as a security guard at the club when the shooting happened. Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said the club should not have even been open.
At Sunday’s vigil, a group of bikers revved their engines, showing up to pay respects. Some people brought flowers, while others donated money to the victims’ families. Speakers at the vigil expressed frustration over crime in the community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got to have real conversations about how we address violence in our community,” Derrick Quarles of Greenville’s Black Lives Matter chapter said.
