Three men and six women were killed and several other people were wounded when 21-year-old white gunman opened fire at them
US police on Thursday reportedly captured a 21-year-old white gunman who killed nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nation’s oldest black churches in Charleston, an attack being probed as a hate crime.
The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions.
The suspect — identified as Dylann Roof of Columbia, South Carolina — has been taken into custody in neighboring North Carolina, CNN and two local television stations reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Churchgoers had gathered Wednesday evening when the shooter walked into the building, sat in the congregation for about an hour and then opened fire, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.
Three men and six women were killed, and several other people were wounded.
Among the dead was the church’s pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was also a Democratic state senator.
“At this point, we have nine victims in this hideous crime that has been committed,” Mullen told journalists.
“I do believe it was a hate crime.”
Police released photos of Roof — a slender white man with dark blond or brown hair in a distinctive bowl-type haircut and wearing a grey sweater.
“He obviously is extremely dangerous,” Mullen said.
The shooting comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in America, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in recent months led to protests and a national debate on race.
A Justice Department spokesperson said a hate crimes probe had been opened, with FBI agents working in tandem with local police.
“My heart is breaking for Charleston and South Carolina,” said Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of only two African Americans in the Senate.
