Charleston church shooting: 21yo Dylann Roof arrested after white gunman kills nine in 'hate crime' at black church in South Carolina

Updated

A 21-year-old white man suspected of shooting dead nine people at a black church in the south-eastern US city of Charleston has been arrested.

Dylann Roof was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about a four-hour drive from the scene of the mass shooting, police chief Gregory Mullen said.

On Wednesday, the shooter sat with churchgoers inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for about an hour before opening fire, Mr Mullen said.

"This individual committed a tragic, heinous crime last night," Mr Mullen said.

US president Barack Obama mourned the victims but also expressed anger over the shootings.

"Now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear: at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," he said.

US attorney-general Loretta Lynch said her office was investigating whether to charge Roof with a hate crime motivated by racial or other prejudice.

Such crimes typically carry harsher penalties.

"The fact that this took place in a black church obviously raises questions about a dark part of our history," Mr Obama said.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, which researches US hate groups, said the attack illustrated the dangers home-grown extremists posed.

"Since 9/11, our country has been fixated on the threat of jihadi terrorism," the group said in a statement.

"But the horrific tragedy at the Emanuel AME reminds us that the threat of homegrown domestic terrorism is very real."

Roof given gun for 21st birthday

A man who identified himself as Roof's uncle said Roof's father had given him a handgun as a 21st birthday present in April.

"I don't have any words for it," the uncle, Carson Cowles, said.

"Nobody in my family had seen anything like this coming."

Roof's mother, Amy, declined to comment when reached by phone.

"We will be doing no interviews, ever," she said before hanging up.

In a Facebook profile apparently belonging to him, Roof is pictured wearing a jacket featuring the flags of apartheid-era South Africa and white-ruled Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

Eight people were killed inside the church, and another victim died at a trauma centre shortly after. Several other people were wounded.

"At this point, we have nine victims in this hideous crime that has been committed," Mr Mullen said, describing the attack as a "hate crime".

"It is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."

None of the victims were immediately identified but the Reverend Al Sharpton, a New York-based civil rights leader, tweeted that the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor and a member of the state Senate, was among the fatalities.

The shooter told one survivor he would let her live so she could tell others what happened, the president of the Charleston NAACP, Dot Scott, told the local Post and Courier newspaper.

After the shooting, a bomb threat was reported near the church, Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Watson said, and people who were gathered in the area were told by police to move back.

The all-clear was later given after checks were made.

Local community in shock

"This is an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in this most historic church, an evil and hateful person took the lives of citizens who had come to worship and pray together," Charleston mayor Joe Riley said.

South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said in a statement: "[My family] and I are praying for the victims and families touched by tonight's senseless tragedy at Emanuel AME Church".

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Charleston shooting suspect in custody as Obama takes aim at gun culture (ABC News)

"While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," the statement said.

The local community reacted with shock and grief after the mass shooting.

"This is going to put a lot of concern to every black church when guys have to worry about getting shot in the church," Tamika Brown said while waiting for a noon prayer vigil near the site of the shooting.

"They might need security guards, police officers."

Earlier, police took a man with a backpack and a camera into custody.

The man, named Austin Rich, was later released and posted on Facebook that he understood that police "officers were simply doing their job and they did it well".

"They asked several questions, checked my phone records and told me I was clear to go," Mr Rich said.

"I am thankful for the professionalism of the officers on duty, and have a tremendous amount of respect for them as well."

Attack 'absolutely bizarre' says restaurant owner

Jim Curley, owner of a restaurant located a few blocks from the church, said locals were shocked that anyone would carry out an attack in the popular tourist area.

"This is absolutely bizarre," Mr Curley said.

"This is really completely out of the blue ... we have no idea what the motivation is."

Following the attack on the church, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, cancelled an appearance in Charleston that had been scheduled for Thursday morning.

"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his campaign team said in a statement.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also tweeted her condolences.

Charleston is known locally as The Holy City due to its large number of churches and historical mix of immigrant ethnic groups that brought a variety of creeds to the southern city on the Atlantic coast.

The attack follows the April shooting of an unarmed black man in North Charleston by a white police officer.

The officer has been charged with murder in that case, one of a number of deaths of unarmed black men in encounters with police that have raised racial tensions in the US.

Reuters/AFP

Topics: police, terrorism, united-states

First posted