New York: The man suspected of fatally shooting nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday, was given a gun by his father as a 21st birthday present in April, his uncle told Reuters on Thursday.

Law enforcement officers were at the home of Dylann Roof`s mother on Thursday morning, the uncle, Carson Cowles, said in an interview.

The FBI has identified the gunman in the deadly shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina, church as 21-year-old Dylann Roof, the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper said on its website.

Cowles said he recognized Roof in a photo released by police, and described him as quiet and soft-spoken. Roof`s father gave him a .45-caliber pistol for his birthday this year, Cowles said.