[gatagato]

• A woman who survived the shooting says the gunman said he was letting her live so that she could tell people what happened, Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott told CNN.

• The person who shot and killed nine people at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was there for about an hour, attending a meeting with the eventual victims, before he began shooting, Charleston police Chief Greg Mullen said Thursday morning.

• The suspect is in his early 20s and stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. "He has on a very distinctive sweatshirt as well as the vehicle, with a very distinctive license plate," the police chief said.


Image From CCTV Footage Showing Charleston Church Shooting Suspect

UPDATE: Suspect caught
More info here

He didn't start shooting right away, police said.

The white man spent an hour in a prayer meeting at the historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday night before he opened fire, killing nine people, Charleston police Chief Greg Mullen said Thursday morning.

Then the man escaped onto the streets of the city's historic downtown, an area normally jammed with tourists. He was still at large Thursday morning as an army of law enforcement officers combed the region.

Mullen said he considers the shooting at the oldest AME church in the South a hate crime -- a designation that would allow federal prosecution.

"The only reason someone would walk into a church and shoot people that were praying is hate," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said.

Eight churchgoers died at the scene; a ninth at a hospital, police said. Among them is the pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, South Carolina state Sen. Kent Williams told CNN. He's a cousin of Pinckney's, who was also a state senator.

A woman who survived says the gunman told her he was letting her live so that she could tell people what happened, Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott told CNN. Scott said she heard this from the victims' family members.

"I did not hear this verbatim from the almost victim, I heard it from at least half a dozen other folks that were there and family of the victims. There seems to be no question that this is what the shooter said," Scott said.

Authorities said they were shocked not only by the killings but that the violence occurred in a house of worship. The church holds a regular Wednesday night prayer meeting.

"People in prayer Wednesday evening. A ritual, a coming together, praying, worshiping God. An awful person to come in and shoot them is inexplicable," Riley said.

There were 13 people inside the church when the shooting happened -- the shooter, the nine people who were killed and three survivors, South Carolina state Sen. Larry Grooms, who was briefed by law enforcement, told CNN. Two of the survivors were not harmed, he said.

Mullen said six females and three males were killed. He said he didn't know if the shooter had specific targets.

"We don't know if anybody was targeted other than the church itself," he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/18/us...lina-shooting/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/charleston-...ry?id=31845305

[niknik]

Definitely a hate crime, if everything I've read about him is true.
He's a coward, apparently he did it because "blacks are raping our women, and taking over the nation".
But he went to a church, and murdered decent people who did nothing to him.
Not that I would have supported anything like this. He should have went and confronted gang members and drug dealers. At least I could have a little understanding, that he went after people who are violent and destroying neighborhoods.

I hope those awful police get him before he hurts anymore people. If he has any sense he won't be taken alive, because he will be murdered in prison anyway.
And now we have to listen to all the anti gun nuts whining for the next couple months. AL Sharpton is on his way to stir the hatred pot.

[TheVrist]

That cop should be shot, for wearing those short.

[Johnny Wadd]

Only a hate crime when it suits their agenda

[thckoitin]

.

[CrunchyCripple]

Kidnapped, robbed, raped and murdered is a common thing. What the Mansons did, was not common and still is not common.

If they would have cut the victims open, removed parts, then wrote in blood on the walls, trying to incite a race war, THEN
they'd get the same attention, Johnny Wadd.

[CrunchyCripple]

As for the shooter in this thread, he's got that same "rotten, worm infested brain" look that all the other mass shooters have had.
You can clearly see the mental illness in their eyes.

[Johnny Wadd]

Mental illness or MK Ultra

[thckoitin]

Originally Posted by Johnny Wadd ↗

Mental illness or MK Ultra

Don't those go hand in hand?

[OhJstFkOffAlrdy]

Originally Posted by TheVrist ↗

That cop should be shot, for wearing those short.

Dude, by the look on his face, he would probably agree with you. I can practically hear his thoughts now...

"Motherfucker. The one fucking day I actually wear shorts to work..."

Real men die with their shorts on.