First lady: ‘We’ve seen too many tragedies like this’

First lady Michelle Obama expressed grief Friday over a shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C., that left nine dead, and echoed the president’s sentiment that it should be a wake-up call on gun violence.

“We’ve seen too many tragedies like this, and there is something particularly horrifying about something that happened, so senseless, in a house of worship,” the first lady said, while addressing U.S. military members stationed in Italy. 

“My heart goes out to the people of Emanuel and to the people of Charleston. I pray for a community that I know is in pain, with the hope that tragedies like these will one day come to an end,” she added. 

{mosads}President Obama spoke Thursday, lamenting that Washington has failed to enact tougher gun laws despite a number of mass shootings during his time in office.

“Now is a time for mourning and for healing, but let’s be clear: At some point, we as a country we will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence doesn’t happen in other advanced countries,” Obama said.

Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old white man, is in police custody on suspicion of killing nine people Wednesday evening at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. 

The suspect attended a Bible study at the historic African-American church for about an hour before he allegedly opened fire, according to police. Federal officials are investigating the case as possible hate crime.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) described the shooting as a “hate crime” on Friday and said her state would pursue the death penalty against the suspected shooter.

On Friday she also pushed back on the president’s remarks concerning guns. 

“Anytime there is a traumatic situation, people want something to blame, they always want something to go after. There’s one person to blame here, a person filled with hate, a person that does not define South Carolina,” she said on NBC’s Today.

“I know President Obama had his job to do when he made those statements, but my job is to now get the state to heal, and our focus very much is on those nine families, it’s on the Mother Emanuel Church family, it’s on the AME family and it’s on the people of South Carolina.”