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Shooting At Historical Black Church In Charleston Leaves 9 Dead

Posted on June 18th, 2015
by
Staff Editor


Update 11:45 AM EST: President Obama will be delivering a speech regarding the Charleston, South Carolina shooting. See the stream below.

Update 11:20 AM EST: Dylan Storm Roof has reportedly been caught and arrested in Shelby, North Carolina. The FBI has confirmed that he has been taken into custody.

Police are investigating a shooting that occurred inside of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina last night.

Reports say that nine people were killed after 21-year-old white male, confirmed to be named Dylann Storm Roof, entered the historical black church, sat through part of a prayer meeting before opening fire on the group.

While eight of the victims died inside of the church, one reportedly died at a local hospital, and the church’s pastor, Clementa Pinckney, is among the dead. No names have been given on the victims, but they include three males and six females.

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has launched a “hate crime investigation” into the shooting, and the NAACP has released a statement:

The NAACP was founded to fight against racial hatred and we are outraged that 106 years later, we are faced today with another mass hate crime.  Our heartfelt prayers and soul-deep condolences go out to the families and community of the victims at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church.  The senselessly slain parishioners were in a church for Wednesday night bible study. There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture.  Today I mourn as an AME minister, as a student and teacher of scripture, as well as a member of the NAACP. 

The NAACP South Carolina State Conference and Charleston Branch have been working on the ground—with police and the community to bring this case to a close.  We remain vigilant while the local police and FBI investigate this hate crime and bring the shooter to justice.

There were three survivors of the shooting, with one being a woman the shooter left alive, and one being a 5-year-old girl, who reportedly played dead when the gunman opened fire.

See a photo of the gunman, Dylan Roof, on the following page.

Source: USA Today

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