Suspect sought in Charleston church murders (UPDATED – Captured Alive)
9 killed in Church shooting
AP reports on the church shooting last night in Charleston, South Carolina:
A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime.
The suspect attended the meeting at the church Wednesday night and stayed for nearly an hour before the deaths, police Chief Greg Mullen said.
The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle. Mullen said he could not offer a make and model on the dark colored sedan because investigators were not certain about what is shown in the video.
The victims were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details and said names would be released after families were notified.
But State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press that the Emanuel AME Church’s pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed.
He's believed to be driving this vehicle. You can't share this enough pic.twitter.com/1808wh5BTV
— Megan Rivers (@MegMRivers) June 18, 2015
We will be updating throughout the day.
UPDATES:
Reuters is reporting that the uncle of the suspected shooter recognized his nephew in a photo released by police. The FBI has reportedly identified the shooter as 21 year old Dylann Roof.
#BREAKING: Suspect in #CharlestonShooting is Dylann Storm Roof, from Columbia, SC area. http://t.co/pTmKSxMHwS pic.twitter.com/DUqesJNUKY
— WBTV News (@WBTV_News) June 18, 2015
#BREAKING: #CharlestonShooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof caught in Shelby, NC, law enforcement confirms to @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/wEnp2LuBPi
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 18, 2015
Charleston police chief says #CharlestonShooting suspect “was cooperative” when arrested in Shelby, North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/fvB9hsXvRm
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 18, 2015
#breaking Here is the suspect on the way to jail. pic.twitter.com/haY53x64Vp
— Steve Ohnesorge WBTV (@WBTVSteveO) June 18, 2015
#BREAKING: Here's the first video of #CharlestonShooting suspect #DylannRoof: pic.twitter.com/c4bqrs3MUp
— Mike Manzoni (@MikeWSPA) June 18, 2015
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Comments
“The suspect attended the meeting at the church Wednesday night and stayed for nearly an hour before the deaths….”
They must know who this person is.
I have to think they do.
Description: White, blond haired.
But those pictures, he looks black and black haired.
But this seems to be well planned. So even if they knew who he was they may not know who he is now.
He’s sandy-haired and has a tan. But I get your joke — he could be transitional in some way or other.
No. That’s not my point.
My point is that early reports said he was white and blonde haired. Possible because the witness told them so. Looking at that picture I would have to wonder if the witness is just not a good witness. Maybe, for example, she described him as white because he had good diction. But some blacks have good diction.
Looking at that picture suggests to me a person who might have had it all planned out. He hid his nose, he may have on a wig, the shirt he could have just pulled of, as well as the pants. Maybe he told the witness ( who says he told her he left her alive to tell the tale ) why he did this and who was. maybe he was planning to get away and assume a totally different identity, and may now be living somewhere as John Ryan. This looks like a guy who could easily fade into the background.
IOW who he is now may not be who he was.
I doubt they know everyone who shows up for a Bible class. I’m sure most churches welcome visitors and possible new members.
Part of the culture is to take an interest in any strangers. They would have chatted him up, assuming he was a stranger, and not someone already well known to them.
The first pic I saw of him on the news made him look African-American.
I hoped he was, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the potential for reprisals. Hoping and didn’t make it so.
Hoping and wishing, that is.
This “story” still has too many holes in it.
Sometimes you just have to accept that there is evil in the world and some folks do just wanna watch the world burn for no reason other than evil.
Look at the pictures of the guy that have been put up. Look into his eyes then check out a picture of Charles Manson, they have the same look in their eyes.
This guy has confessed, he is just evil and sick.
Pure premeditated evil. It is hard for me to believe this guy could do what he did and then calmly drive away. Maybe a driver was waiting in the car?
Leftist evil: ‘Dylann Roof, Southern Democrat Throwback, is Drug-Addled ‘Wannabe Emo Anarchist’ with Androgynous Haircut’.
Obama to self: “If I were to murder Christians, this is exactly how I’d do it.”
Obama may be a lot of things, but a mass-murderer is not one of them. Get a grip.
Prayers ascending for the families.
Suspect identified, from Lexington County:
http://www.live5news.com/story/29347341/police-identify-suspect-in-fatal-mass-shooting-at-charleston-church
Be careful, I don’t see a statement by police that he is a suspect or wanted as a “person-of-interest” or anything like that.
Seems like the name spread like wild fire on social media, but no solid references.
IOW, it may be the guy, it may not be the guy.
This is evil-stone cold self-serving self-justifying anarchistic bile.
Tell me. What crime against your neighbor isn’t a hate crime?
I have always looked at the whole “hate crime” thing a little too politically driven and interest group based. But I agree with you.
Dylann Storm Roof seems to have a lot of black FB friends for a “white supremacist”.
They must have taken it down, I could not find his page.
Char Char, you’re saying what a lot are thinking – that he’s an Obama Democrat operative who did this on purpose to stir up support for the Democrats in 2016 elections?
And the Nazi didn’t burn down the Reich-stag!
I never said anything of the kind. Please don’t put words in my mouth.
I hope you got a screenshot.
Oh Look!
Roof claims he’s a “registered Democrat” and has voted for Obama multiple times since 2008!
Snark
Your schtick is getting old, friend.
Sure are a lot of vile, racist comments in the tweets.
Lots of people pushing an agenda.
Yeah, it seems many of the prog drones don’t understand the meaning of the word “terrorism.” A whackjob goes nuts and murders a bunch of churchgoers in cold blood, ergo it’s unacceptable to talk about Muslim terrorism. Prog logic. FORWARD!!!
Nine dead. Shot in cold blood while studying the Bible together.
This is heartbreaking.
More here, including some sort of functional Facebook page, and a description of the pastor who was killed.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/219761.php
Something to keep in mind. Yesterday night maybe an hour after this happened. Police took into custody someone who matched the description.
Twitter just broke out with statements that that was the guy.
Turned out he was a cameraman, IIRC working for CBS. The police questioned him and let him go. Luckily no one acted on the information.
They may have caught the guy, they may not. But as I say of the media, let the other shoe drop.
This guy looks like a fan of old-school Apartheid. Those are the old South Africa and Rhodesia flags on his jacket.
He could be. Or maybe that was the jacket of a cousin who outgrew it and passed it on.
Any more tea leaves to read?
Brian Ross…is that you?
He’s in custody.. picked up in North Carolina.
Well, the DC proponents of racial strife have taken over. They are in full aggressive mode to smother objectivity in favor of a manufactured meme of hate crime. There is zero evidence of any racial animus. Funny how it’s commie leftists who always notice skin color first.
How about this theory – he spent an hour in Bible study struggling internally between the demons who inspired this act and his soul struggling to override them. Race had nothing to do with it.
Can I get anybody to take a bet on whether he was taking antidepressants?
Wondering why Matt Drudge is continuing to lead with “white man kills nine” headline.
Strange.
He’s either doing it because he’s put a similar title after a black man shot people, or he’s making a point about the framing of the narrative by the media. He links to hundreds of black violence stories, but I am not sure he’s ever titled with “Black man shoots other black man”, or whatever.
Regardless, this a horrible crime that just makes everything worse about race and politics in America today.
Seems illogical that he would do something like that which makes me tend to not believe that those were likely motivations on his part.
I wonder if he’s just bought into the liberal media bias and narrative to point to race first in incidents like this.
I hope that’s not the case.
But we may see.
Obama and Jarrett are getting the race war they want:
http://dailykenn.blogspot.com/
Will be interesting to see if totally a “lone wolf” or connections with other likeminded…
If others…. Who are they and who promoted doing this. Still a ton of questions….didn’t seem to be covert in actions.
These attacks never go the direction they want…counterproductive to any “cause”…. except for the political class.
The others…..are…..the Democrats!!!!!!!!!
His middle name is Storm? As in Storm Front? If the quotes attributed to him are true, maybe the left finally got their white supremacist they’ve wanted. Putting Sharpton as point man for race relations sure doesn’t build unity, but nothing excuses these psychos coming out of the woodwork.
But murdering a black Republican Christian minister is sure not a target of any conservative, or Christian, or Republican. If there’s one sane and stabilizing institution in black communities it would be the Christian churches. So evil of course finds that a great target, to further help divide and conquer us.
Why Midwest! Are you trying to make us think that the Obama Chicago Machine Democrats are so low as to send their own to murder a Republican? Next it’ll be thinking Obama murdered those 3 gay boyfriends from his and Wright’s church! Gasp!
I doubt anyone sent him … except some inner rage. But the language he used, if true … does sound more like someone imitating the PC version of tea party “racists”, than a true idiot racist.
He did have a bunch of black friends on Facebook that I saw, so even if he was pushed into a rage by the drugs, his targets may still have been (leftist) politically motivated. And come on, he was wearing a South African shirt, supporting apartheid? Does he think the white leaders went into black churches murdering people?
He certainly sounds like the left’s crazed nut, murdering a Republican black Christian, and others. What are the odds he drove that far, just to find a black target, that just happened to be a Republican state senator?
I’m confused, which of the victims was a Republican state senator? Was there a state senator other than Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who is a democrat?
I had seen a couple reports saying he was Republican, you’re right, he’s Democrat.
Still wondering if the killer’s Dad that gave him the gun named him Storm after Storm Front. A friend of his on Greta said the Mom had taken the gun away from him, but he took it back, seemingly without her knowledge.
Please note that if only one or two others of the Bible Study group had been armed and trained, far fewer people would have died. We need more good people with guns to stop bad people with guns and we need them in more places, especially places that might be perceived as “soft targets.”
Yeeeeup. There will always be wolves who want to have free access to helpless sheep.
There need to be sheepdogs at the ready.
Gun Free Zone — PC wording for “Victims Disarmed for Your Shooting Pleasure”
Two things are sure:
1) We are going to hear a lot of oh-so-PC babble about mental illness, and;
2) No matter what sort of gun was used, there will be calls to ban “evil black assault rifles”. (I’m surprised it hasn’t started by already.)
Regarding Point 1: I am not saying that mental illness isn’t real; my oldest boy is 35 and we have been dealing with his mental problems for most of his life. However it has become, shall we say, fashionable to blame mental illness for everything, ignoring the fact that evil does exist and is a quite likely reason for many of these aberrant (and abhorrent) acts.
Pres. ScamWOW uses occasion of carnage in Charleston to tell obvious lie in support of taking civil rights from Americans.
http://twitchy.com/2015/06/18/jackass-obama-boosts-his-charlestonshooting-gun-control-push-with-what-else-an-obvious-lie/
Nope, never been any mass killings in other countries. Ever heard of Charlie Hebdo? Oh, that’s right, he ignored that.
Keep in mind that the pastor was a State Senator and a bit of a political figure. The shooter may have been politically motivated.
It’s more likely it was racially motivated. Killing the Pastor/Senator and letting the others live MIGHT suggest a political motivation but killing the other 8 kind of blows a hole in that theory.
You mean the shooter could have been an Obama loving Democrat?
Makes sense!
Roof turned 21 in April, at which time it’s reported his father gave him a .45 Pistol. It also turns out he was arrested in February on a Drug and Trespass charge (according to the AP). If his father knew about the Felony drug charge, and it’s likely he did since the scumbag had no job and no means of support other than his family, Dad is going to have a lot to answer for. Giving Roof that gun as a gift was a violation of federal law.
Even if he hadn’t yet been convicted? Doesn’t that kick in only after conviction?
(although not keeping any guns might be part of bail terms)
That depends on the actual charge, he may not even have had to pay bail, he may just have been given a summons and/or they may not have chosen to pursue charges.
Nope. If you’ve been indicted on a felony charge or even if you have a felony arrest that hasn’t made it to the Grand Jury yet, you’re prohibited from buying or taking possession of a firearm.
Patience.
Rags & Obie1: DAMN I hate being right sometimes!
This has gone past ridiculous, and has even left absurd in its wake. President Obama’s comments regarding the evil, aberrant, and abhorrent church shooting in Charleston that left nine innocents dead were expected but he managed to set an all-time personal low today. He is willing to tell a lie, any lie, no matter how ridiculous and “transparent” to further his war on the Constitution or, alternately, he is so addled that it brings into question his fitness to remain in office. He stated (verbatim quote) “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this kind of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.” Bovine Excrement! Apparently he has forgotten these massacres that happened during his watch:
1) the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this year which ended up taking seventeen innocent lives,
2) the shooting in England that left twelve dead in 2010, and
3) 2011 Norwegian attack where Anders Breivik murdered a total of seventy-seven men, women, and children!
My wife and I sent emails to all three of our federal representatives demanding that these FACTS be brought up in the House and Senate in an attempt to counter Obama’s blatant lies! It may not help but if enough of us email and/or call our reps in DC it certainly couldn’t hurt.
[At least the “evil black rifle” hasn’t been blamed yet. It appears he may have used “an evil black 1911”]