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.
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.
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