BREAKING NEWS: 9 Shot & Killed @ "Hate Crime" Church massacre in Charleston, SC.
REPORT (via NBC): Police were scouring on Thursday morning for a white man who gunned down nine people at an historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, as chilling details emerged about the horrific attack.
Authorities released images of the suspect and vowed to apprehend him while a shaken community tried to understand why someone would open fire at a house of worship during Wednesday evening Bible study.
"This is an unfathomable and an unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind ... this person is dangerous," Mayor Joe Riley Jr. said at an early morning news conference. "We need every tip we can get to bring this person into custody."
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen added that the suspect should not be confronted by the public.
"We do not want more people harmed to approach him or follow the vehicle," Mullen said, adding, "because of the pain and the hurt that this individual has caused this community, this entire community ... we will catch this individual."
Three people survived the massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation's oldest African-American churches. They were being interviewed to help in the investigation.
The victims were three men and six women. Mullen revised earlier reports that said two victims were taken to the hospital — only one was transferred and later died.
Among the dead is the church's pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a 41-year-old married father of two and Democratic member of the state Senate.
Pinckey's cousin told NBC affiliate WIS-TV that she spoke with one of the survivors who said the gunman came to the church asking for the pastor.
He then sat down next to Pinckney throughout the entire meeting.
"At the conclusion of the Bible study, from what I understand, they just start hearing loud noises ringing out ... and he had already wounded, the suspect already wounded a couple of individuals," said Sylvia Johnson. They included the pastor.
One of the survivors told Johnson that the gunman reloaded five different times and that her son was trying to "talk him out of doing the act of killing people."
But he wouldn't listen, she said.
"You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go," Johnson said the survivor recalled.
The first 911 calls were received at around 9:05 p.m. ET. Charleston officials said the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were now helping in the investigation, which is being called a "hate crime."
"In Charleston, to have a horrible, hateful person go into a church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond incomprehensible and is not explained," Riley said.
Police were scouring on Thursday morning for a white man who gunned down nine people at an historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, as chilling details emerged about the horrific attack.
Authorities released images of the suspect and vowed to apprehend him while a shaken community tried to understand why someone would open fire at a house of worship during Wednesday evening Bible study.
"This is an unfathomable and an unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind ... this person is dangerous," Mayor Joe Riley Jr. said at an early morning news conference. "We need every tip we can get to bring this person into custody."
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen added that the suspect should not be confronted by the public. Image: Suspect in Charleston shooting Suspect in Charleston shooting Charleston Police
"We do not want more people harmed to approach him or follow the vehicle," Mullen said, adding, "because of the pain and the hurt that this individual has caused this community, this entire community ... we will catch this individual."
Three people survived the massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation's oldest African-American churches. They were being interviewed to help in the investigation.
Mullen added that the suspect was attending the Bible study meeting, and was there for nearly an hour before launching the attack.
The victims were three men and six women. Mullen revised earlier reports that said two victims were taken to the hospital — only one was transferred and later died.
Among the dead is the church's pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a 41-year-old married father of two and Democratic member of the state Senate.
Pinckey's cousin told NBC affiliate WIS-TV that she spoke with one of the survivors who said the gunman came to the church asking for the pastor.
He then sat down next to Pinckney throughout the entire meeting.
"At the conclusion of the Bible study, from what I understand, they just start hearing loud noises ringing out ... and he had already wounded, the suspect already wounded a couple of individuals," said Sylvia Johnson. They included the pastor.
One of the survivors told Johnson that the gunman reloaded five different times and that her son was trying to "talk him out of doing the act of killing people."
But he wouldn't listen, she said.
"You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go," Johnson said the survivor recalled.
The first 911 calls were received at around 9:05 p.m. ET. Charleston officials said the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were now helping in the investigation, which is being called a "hate crime."
"In Charleston, to have a horrible, hateful person go into a church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond incomprehensible and is not explained," Riley said.
Tory Fields, an associate minister at the Charleston County Ministers Conference, said the community is looking for answers as to why someone would use a gun on a group of people armed with nothing more than Bibles. #PrayForCharleston
