Dad Captures Heartwarming Photo of Son Hugging Stranger After Charleston Shooting

— -- At the same time Sunday that church bells around the country rang in harmony to honor the victims killed in the Emanuel AME Church shooting, a father captured a heartwarming moment that took place just steps from the church.

John Nettles Jr. and his family -- wife, Lindsey, and 3-year-old son Parker -- had come from their home in the West Ashley neighborhood of Charleston to take part in a memorial service for the nine Emanuel AME members who were killed last Wednesday night while attending a Bible study at the predominantly African-American church.

The family heard “powerful” singing and figured it must be coming from Emanuel AME Church so decided to walk over to see.

“My wife and my son were a little behind me because I was already taking pictures,” Nettles, a professional photographer, told ABC News.

Ahead of him, Nettles saw two women, one white and one black, holding signs that read “Free Hugs” with the hashtag #CharlestonStrong.

Nettles, 29, said he paused to fix his camera so he could take a photo of the two women together holding their signs, but his 3-year-old son got ahead of his dad.

“As I was getting my camera prepared, Parker just ran up to give them a hug on his own,” Nettles said. “I quickly took a picture and realized that was much better than what I had been planning.”

Nettles posted the photo to his Facebook page Sunday, with the caption reading, in part, "He doesn't understand that he's hugging a black woman and that he's a white boy. He doesn't understand that just last week there was another white boy who decided to murder several black people - just because they're black. To him, it's just a hug with another person."

"It's probably the most beautiful hug I've ever witnessed," Nettles wrote.

The photo was quickly shared among Nettles' family and friends on Facebook, and was recognized by the two women in the photo.

“John Nettles Jr, thank you so much for capturing this moment with my friend an[d] I. This is the entire reason we did that ... nobody is born with hate and this picture shows how pure children's love can be. Thank you again for sharing,” Beth Willis wrote in a comment to the photo on Nettles' page.

"This weekend has drastically changed my view of things and heightened my faith in humanity and my God," the other woman in the photo, Taylor Willis, posted on her own Facebook page.

The photo has proven so popular that Nettles has turned it into a poster and is selling both a color version and a black-and-white version online, with all proceeds going to Emanuel AME Church.

“I think people are sharing it because of how sweet and innocent that hug from my son is,” Nettles said. "He just doesn’t understand how meaningful it is right now because of what happened last week.”

“People are people. That’s how we raise our kid,” Nettles said. "He didn’t think of it. He just wanted to give them a hug.”