A gunman opened fire in a historic black church in downtown Charleston Wednesday night, leaving nine people dead including the church pastor. Authorities are describing the attack as a hate crime. The white gunman is still at large.
Police Chief Greg Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime, and police were looking for a white male in his early 20s. Mullen said the scene was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away.
"We will put all effort, we will put all resources and we will put all of our energy into finding this individual who committed this crime tonight," he said.
According to State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford, among those killed was the pastor of the church, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley called the shooting "the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy."
"The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," Riley said. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person."
The gunman is described as a "clean-shaven white man about 21 years old who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, bluejeans and Timberland boots. Chief Mullen described him as 'extremely dangerous.'"
Shortly after the shooting, a group of church leaders held a press conference a few blocks from the church.
Tory Fields, a member of the Charleston County Ministers Conference, said he believed the suspect had targeted the victims because of their race.
“It’s obvious that it’s race,” he said. “What else could it be? You’ve got a white guy going into an African-American church. That’s choice. He chose to go into that church and harm those people. That’s choice.”
The church is one of the nation's oldest black churches, built in 1891.
UPDATE: The FBI has confirmed the identity of the shooting suspect: Dylann Roof, 21, a Columbia area resident:
