Affidavits spell out chilling case against Dylann Roof

Show Caption Hide Caption Shooting victims' families to Dylann Roof: We 'forgive you' Dylann Roof, the suspect in the mass shootings that killed nine at a Charleston church, appeared in court for his bond hearing Friday. Family members of the victims addressed Roof emotionally, and said that they "forgive" him and "hate won't win."

CHARLESTON — As a subdued Dylann Roof made his first official appearance Friday on charges of killing nine people at a historic black church, police affidavits offered grim details of the murder case, including an allegation that the gunman fired multiple shots into each victim and stood over them to issue "a racially inflammatory statement."

The documents also said that Roof's father and uncle contacted police to positively identify the 21-year-old as the suspect after authorities issued photos of the gunman within hours of the attack at the Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston Wednesday evening.

As those details trickled out, the suspect's family issued a statement expressing sadness and offering condolences to the families of the victims:

Dylann Roof's father, according to the court documents, told investigators that his son owned a .45-caliber handgun. The documents note that .45-caliber casings were found at the scene of the shootings.

The affidavits allege that Roof, wearing a fanny pack apparently to hide a weapon, spent an hour with the parishioners before opening fire on the group. Before leaving the scene of the carnage, he allegedly "uttered a racially inflammatory statement" over the bodies to a witness who was apparently allowed to survive to convey the message.

Roof was returned to South Carolina after waiving his extradition rights following his arrest Thursday near Shelby, N.C., about 245 miles northwest of Charleston.

He appeared at ease when he allegedly told investigators shortly after his capture that he had launched the attack that left nine dead, a federal law enforcement official said. The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said that the suspect expressed no remorse and appeared "comfortable'' with what he had done.

Authorities have determined that Roof legally obtained a .45-caliber handgun earlier this year, using money likely provided as birthday gift from his family, the official said. The weapon was purchased at gun store near Columbia, S.C.

Statements made by some family members of victims were particularly powerful.

Appearing by video link from jail, the 21-year-old Roof, who was handcuffed and wore a striped jail jumpsuit, often pursed his lips, closed his eyes, or stared at the floor as the relatives of five victims spoke to the court at the bond hearing.

"You took something really precious away from me, I will never talk to her again, never hold her again, but I forgive you," said the daughter of one of the victims, Ethel Lance. "You hurt me, you hurt a lot of people but God forgive you and I forgive you."

Roof appeared wan and subdued, his distinctive bowl hair, shown in surveillance photos outside the church on the night of the killings, stringy and unkempt. He stood with his hands cuffed behind his back. Two heavily armed guards stood behind him.

Bethanee Middleton-Brown, sister of another victim, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, addressed the hearing amid sniffles and sobs in the tiny courtroom.

She said her sister "taught me me that we are the family that love built, we have no room for hate, so we have to forgive. And I pray to God for your soul and I also thank God that And I also thank God I won't be around when your judgment day comes with him."

Although the court legally could not issue any bond in on the murder charges, Magistrate James Gosnell Jr. set Roof's bond on a related weapons possession charge at $1 million.

Roof, who often swallowed hard as the judge asked questions, spoke only three times, answering "yes, sir" and "no, sir" to questions about his employment status. Roof is unemployed.

At the opening of the emotional, 13-minute hearing, Gosnell addressed the court, saying Charleston is a strong, loving community with "big hearts."

"We are going to reach out to everyone, all the victims, and we will touch them," he said. "We have victims — nine of them — but we also have victims on the other side.

"There are victims on this young man's side of the family. No one would have ever thrown them into the whirlwind of events that they have been thrown into ... We must find it in their heart to also help his family as well."

In Washington, meanwhile, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said the federal inquiry into the church shooting is ongoing.

Pierce said the investigation will not only consider possible hate crime violations, but prosecutors also will review the shooting as a possible "act of domestic terrorism.''

"This heartbreaking episode was undoubtedly designed to strike fear and terror into this community, and the department is looking at this crime from all angles,'' Pierce said.

Charleston mayor: Death penalty likely to be sought Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Joseph Riley said although he doesn't condone the death penalty, he thinks prosecutors will seek it in the Emanuel AME church shooting.

Gov. Nikki Haley, speaking on NBC's Today show on Friday, said that "we will absolutely will want him to have the death penalty" for the fatal shooting of nine members of a Bible study group at the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday evening.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., said at a news conference Friday that though he's not a proponent of the death penalty, it's the law in South Carolina and he expects it will be sought in the church shooting. "If you are going to have a death penalty, certainly this case would merit it," Riley said.

Shelby police officials did not interview Roof formally, according to WBTV, a Charlotte TV station, which quotes an unidentified source as saying the suspect was videotaped during the entire time he was at the Shelby police department.

The source told WBTV that Roof spoke freely, told investigators he had been planning the attack for a period of time, had researched the Emanuel AME Church and targeted it because it was a historic African-American church.

According to WBTV's source, Roof told investigators he had a Glock handgun hidden behind a pouch he was wearing around his waist. He also told investigators he thought he'd only shot a few people and when told he actually had killed nine people, he appeared to be somewhat remorseful, according to the source.

During the recorded conversation, Roof reportedly told investigators he actually thought he would be caught in Charleston before fleeing and was headed to Nashville when he was captured. When asked why he was going to Nashville, he reportedly told investigators "I've never been there before."

Police alleged that Roof opened fire on worshipers after sitting with them for at least an hour. The victims included the pastor, Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a state senator.

Images of Dylann Roof suggest racist ideology The 21-year-old man accused of killing nine people as they worshiped at a Charleston, South Carolina church has a criminal past. Dylann Roof was arrested twice this year and images of him posted to social media seem to show a racist ideology.

Roof allegedly told police he "almost didn't go through with (the shooting) because everyone was so nice to him," other sources told NBC News' Craig Melvin.

Police say they thought Roof was the lone gunman within hours of the bloody attack on the church, which was founded in 1816. Asked whether authorities believe Roof had acted alone, Mullen said: "We don't have any reason to believe anyone else was involved."

A one-time acquaintance of Roof's told the Associated Press that he would rant that "blacks were taking over the world" as the pair got drunk on vodka.

Roof railed that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race," said the former friend, Joseph Meek Jr., according to the AP.

Roof's former roommate, Dalton Tyler, told ABC News that Roof seemed to have been plotting some kind of violence "for six months."

"He said he wanted to start a civil war," Tyler said. "He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself."

The apparent racially-motivated nature of the killings have prompted renewed calls for the removal from the statehouse grounds of a Confederate flag.

Gov. Haley, without taking a position on the issue, told CBS News This Morning on Friday that she expects the state to once again take up the issue.

The General Assembly voted 15 years ago to remove the flag from atop the state house and place it instead on a monument out front.

"I think that conversation will probably come back up again and what we hope is that we do things the way South Carolinians do, which is have the conversation, allow some thoughtful words to be exchanged, be kind about it on what we're trying to achieve, and trying to do it, and I think this state will talk about that again and you know, we'll see where it goes," Haley said.

Contributing: Alan Gomez, in Miami; Kevin Johnson, in Washington