This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/charleston-church-shooting-mayor-suspect-will-pay-the-price
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Charleston church shooting: manhunt under way for suspect Dylann Roof | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Related: Charleston church shooting: police hunt suspect in 'hate crime' – latest updates | Related: Charleston church shooting: police hunt suspect in 'hate crime' – latest updates |
| Authorities have identified 21-year-old Dylann Roof as the suspect in an attack that left six women and three men dead during a prayer service at a historic black church in South Carolina, prompting a hate crime investigation by the US department of justice at a moment of increased volatility over race and gun violence in America. | |
| Officials in Charleston condemned the “deranged” and “hate filled” gunman as a manhunt expanded across the region, the family of Roof said it was being questioned by authorities, and religious leaders called for healing after a shocking moment of “broken peace”. | |
| Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis told the Guardian police were still searching for Roof, who is described as clean-shaven, white male with a blond hair and a slender build. According to photos released by Charleston police, he was wearing a gray sweatshirt with jeans, boots and a fanny pack. He also appeared to have a backpack slung over his shoulder. Authorities have not given details of a weapon. | |
| The US justice department’s civil rights division, along with the FBI and the US attorney’s office, launched a formal inquiry into a potential hate crime in this southern “holy city”, which again found itself at the epicentre of international attention just months after a fatal police shooting in nearby North Charleston. | |
| At a press conference as the sun rose in Charleston and mourning swept the religious community and the country, mayor Joseph P Riley Jr thanked law enforcement agencies for the immediacy and quality of their work and called for the community to come together for love and support. | |
| “This is an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind. This person is dangerous, we need every tip we can get to bring this person into custody as soon as possible and of course will make sure that he pays the price for this horrible act,” he said. | “This is an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind. This person is dangerous, we need every tip we can get to bring this person into custody as soon as possible and of course will make sure that he pays the price for this horrible act,” he said. |
| Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen confirmed that the suspect was inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church where the attack took place and attended a prayer meeting with the victims for up to an hour before carrying out the shooting. | Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen confirmed that the suspect was inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church where the attack took place and attended a prayer meeting with the victims for up to an hour before carrying out the shooting. |
| Mullen also said that there were three survivors of the attack, but refused to discuss reports that the gunman had allowed one woman to escape. “We want to make sure during our interview process we get real information from the suspect and not through something that has been posted online or through a story,” he said. | |
| Riley said the community in Charleston was one that “honours our religious institutions and respects the different cultures and beliefs”. He referred to the town as “the holy city”, one where “all the church spires reach out into the sky, including Emanuel AME church where this horrific crime occurred”. | Riley said the community in Charleston was one that “honours our religious institutions and respects the different cultures and beliefs”. He referred to the town as “the holy city”, one where “all the church spires reach out into the sky, including Emanuel AME church where this horrific crime occurred”. |
| He said he had spent the night hugging as many victims’ families as he could. “This horrible, hateful person going to a church and killing people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond incomprehensible and is not explained,” he said. | He said he had spent the night hugging as many victims’ families as he could. “This horrible, hateful person going to a church and killing people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond incomprehensible and is not explained,” he said. |
| “You will see an outpouring of love, assistance and kindness from the community. We met the families last night and hugged as many as we could. There were some hundreds. Their mothers and fathers and grandfathers were killed in that church. We extended our love ... We will work to heal them, love them, support them and that church as long as we live.” | “You will see an outpouring of love, assistance and kindness from the community. We met the families last night and hugged as many as we could. There were some hundreds. Their mothers and fathers and grandfathers were killed in that church. We extended our love ... We will work to heal them, love them, support them and that church as long as we live.” |
| He added that the Emanuel AME church and other African American churches had been important to the social fabric of Charleston society for hundreds of years. “We can catch this no good, horrible person and see that he pays the price, and then we’ll put our arms around that church and that church family,” he said. | He added that the Emanuel AME church and other African American churches had been important to the social fabric of Charleston society for hundreds of years. “We can catch this no good, horrible person and see that he pays the price, and then we’ll put our arms around that church and that church family,” he said. |
| Related: Charleston church shooting: Without gun control, racism will keep killing black people | Gary Younge | Related: Charleston church shooting: Without gun control, racism will keep killing black people | Gary Younge |
| Mullen added: “We are not leaving any stone unturned. This tragedy is indescribable. No one in this community will ever forget this night, and as a result of that and because of the pain and the hurt that this individual has caused this entire community, the law enforcement agencies working on this are committed and we will catch this individual.” | Mullen added: “We are not leaving any stone unturned. This tragedy is indescribable. No one in this community will ever forget this night, and as a result of that and because of the pain and the hurt that this individual has caused this entire community, the law enforcement agencies working on this are committed and we will catch this individual.” |
| Gunfire erupted on Wednesday night inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, whose pastor Clementa Pinckney, a Democrat in the South Carolina senate, was named as one of the dead. | |
| On 26 April, during an event hosted by Emanuel AME, Pinckney introduced several speakers including US Congressman Jim Clyburn. During an opening prayer, he asked for guidance to root out violence, bigtory and racism. | On 26 April, during an event hosted by Emanuel AME, Pinckney introduced several speakers including US Congressman Jim Clyburn. During an opening prayer, he asked for guidance to root out violence, bigtory and racism. |
| “We know that only love can conquer hate, that only love can bring all together in our name,” Pinckney said at the time. “Irregardless of our faiths, our ethnicities, where we are from, together we come in love. Together we come to bury racism, to bury bigotry and to resurrect and revive love, compassion and tenderness.” | “We know that only love can conquer hate, that only love can bring all together in our name,” Pinckney said at the time. “Irregardless of our faiths, our ethnicities, where we are from, together we come in love. Together we come to bury racism, to bury bigotry and to resurrect and revive love, compassion and tenderness.” |
| Pinckney helped lead a prayer vigil in April for Walter Scott, the unarmed black South Carolina man who was shot dead by a North Charleston police officer. He campaigned for police to be equipped with body cameras, which he said “may not be the golden ticket, the golden egg, the end-all-fix-all, but [would help] to paint a picture of what happens during a police stop”. | Pinckney helped lead a prayer vigil in April for Walter Scott, the unarmed black South Carolina man who was shot dead by a North Charleston police officer. He campaigned for police to be equipped with body cameras, which he said “may not be the golden ticket, the golden egg, the end-all-fix-all, but [would help] to paint a picture of what happens during a police stop”. |
| Mandatory body cameras became law in the state one week ago. | Mandatory body cameras became law in the state one week ago. |
| Thomas Dixon, a pastor who has been working with a local chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, told the Guardian in Charleston that he had met Pinckney in the wake of Scott’s death. | Thomas Dixon, a pastor who has been working with a local chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, told the Guardian in Charleston that he had met Pinckney in the wake of Scott’s death. |
| Dixon said that in the wake of the latest shooting, he was “disheartened but not surprised.” | Dixon said that in the wake of the latest shooting, he was “disheartened but not surprised.” |
| “It is a sign of the times,” he said. “Whereas in the past we were able to say there were safe havens for people where they could be treated well and respected, unfortunately in today’s world we have no more safe havens.” | “It is a sign of the times,” he said. “Whereas in the past we were able to say there were safe havens for people where they could be treated well and respected, unfortunately in today’s world we have no more safe havens.” |
| Area religious leaders in this tight-knit community responded to the shooting with overwhelming grief and increased security. | |
| Greg Surratt, founding pastor of the multi-campus Seacoast Church, said pastors from his church would be be serving with the Charleston Coastal Chaplaincy and attending community prayer services for the city. | |
| “We put our trust in [God] and are praying for the deliverance of the Lord,” Surratt said. | |
| Jerod Frazier, minister of social justice at the predominately black Charity Missionary Baptist Church in neighboring North Charleston, said Emanuel AME has always played an important role in the black community in Charleston. He said his church would have a lookout posted at the door of the church on Sunday mornings “until [the gunman] is apprehended and maybe even thereafter”. | |
| Frazier said he also worried about the future of race relations in the region. | |
| “The thing I hate about it is Sunday morning is the most segregated hour across America, but especially in the south – you can clearly tell who’s a visitor and who’s not if someone of another race comes in,” Frazier says. “We consider that to be a sacred time, and this threatens that peace.” | |
| “If someone black goes into a white church or someone white goes to a traditionally black church, heads are going to turn around and say, ‘What’s going on now?’ It’s kind of a broken peace, if you will – a disturbance of peace.” | |
| Eight of the victims were killed in the church. Another died on the way to hospital. Police have not named the victims. | Eight of the victims were killed in the church. Another died on the way to hospital. Police have not named the victims. |
| The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church traces its roots to 1816 and is one of the largest black congregations south of Baltimore. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr addressed the church in 1962. | The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church traces its roots to 1816 and is one of the largest black congregations south of Baltimore. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr addressed the church in 1962. |
| Presidential candidate Jeb Bush has cancelled a planned trip to the state, and the South Carolina legislature has suspended a sitting planned for Thursday. | Presidential candidate Jeb Bush has cancelled a planned trip to the state, and the South Carolina legislature has suspended a sitting planned for Thursday. |