Charleston shooter ‘was big into segregation and other stuff,’ roommate says

Shelby police escorted Dylann Roof from headquarters to the Cleveland County Courthouse Thursday afternoon for his first appearance.

Roof waived extradition, an attorney told WRHI’s news partner, WSOC-TV . It is unclear when he will return to Charleston.

The appearance was closed to everyone but law enforcement officials.

Roof is accused of walking into a Charleston church and opening fire during Bible study Wednesday night.

Nine people were killed. The shooting happened around 9 p.m. Police said Roof told one of the three survivors he let her live so she could tell others what he did.

Roof’s roommate told ABC News he is extremely racist and had planned this attack for six months.

Dalton Tyler, who said he has known Roof for seven months to one year, said he saw suspect just last week.

“He was big into segregation and other stuff,” Tyler told ABC News. “He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.”

Tyler said he met Roof through a good friend. He also said Roof’s parents, with whom he said the suspect was “on and off,” had previously bought him a gun but never allowed him to take it with him until this past week.

Roof’s grandfather declined to comment to ABC News.

The Shelby Police Department received a call from the Kings Mountain Police Department at 10:32 a.m. that a business had contacted them of a possible sighting.

At 10:43 a.m., officers spotted Roof’s vehicle on Dixon Boulevard. He was pulled over at 10:44 a.m. Roof was the only person in the car. He was taken into custody at 10:49 a.m. and taken to the Shelby Police Department.

The FBI and Charleston police officials traveled to Shelby. Roof was escorted out of the Shelby Police Department in a bulletproof vest just before 4 p.m. Thursday to face a judge.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police source told Channel 9 Roof stopped at a gas station on Providence Road around 5:45 a.m. It is unclear how long he was in the Charlotte-area.

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