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 9 | Version 10 |
|---|---|
| Charleston church shooting: 21-year-old suspect captured as 'holy city' mourns | Charleston church shooting: 21-year-old suspect captured as 'holy city' mourns |
| (35 minutes 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 |
| The 21-year-old white man suspected of opening fire and killing nine people during a prayer service at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been taken into custody after one of the deadliest attacks on an American place of worship in years. | The 21-year-old white man suspected of opening fire and killing nine people during a prayer service at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been taken into custody after one of the deadliest attacks on an American place of worship in years. |
| Police said on Thursday that 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof had been captured during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about 250 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina, where he is alleged to have carried out a mass shooting that left “a broken peace” at a moment of increased volatility over race and gun violence in America. | Police said on Thursday that 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof had been captured during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about 250 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina, where he is alleged to have carried out a mass shooting that left “a broken peace” at a moment of increased volatility over race and gun violence in America. |
| Related: Charleston church shooting: Obama calls for gun control in wake of tragedy | Related: Charleston church shooting: Obama calls for gun control in wake of tragedy |
| “Now is the time for mourning,” Barack Obama said at the White House. “But, let’s be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reconcile the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.” | “Now is the time for mourning,” Barack Obama said at the White House. “But, let’s be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reconcile the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.” |
| The president said the massacre should “shift how we think about the issue of gun violence”, as this southern “holy city” once again found itself at the epicentre of international attention just weeks after a fatal police shooting in nearby North Charleston. | The president said the massacre should “shift how we think about the issue of gun violence”, as this southern “holy city” once again found itself at the epicentre of international attention just weeks after a fatal police shooting in nearby North Charleston. |
| “We woke up today and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken,” South Carolina’s governor, Nikki Haley, said as she fought back tears at a press conference. “We allow ourselves to grieve, we allow ourselves to pray, we allow ourselves to question and then we allow ourselves to heal.” | |
| Roof was stopped by Shelby police officers because a suspicious citizen reported the vehicle, the Charleston police chief, Greg Mullen, said on Thursday at a press conference. | |
| He was arrested and taken into custody at about 11.30am on Thursday, Mullen said, after he allegedly opened fire on Wednesday at an evening prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, after reportedly sitting through it for more than an hour. | |
| Law enforcement officials said they had no reason to believe there were other assailants involved. | Law enforcement officials said they had no reason to believe there were other assailants involved. |
| Related: Charleston shooting: state senator Clementa Pinckney among victims | Related: Charleston shooting: state senator Clementa Pinckney among victims |
| Among the dead were the church’s pastor, Clementa Pinckney – a Democrat in the South Carolina senate who had fought for gun-control legislation and body cameras – as well as his sister. | |
| The youngest victim of the mass killing was identified as Tywanza Sanders, a 2014 graduate of the division of business administration at Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, the school confirmed to the Guardian. | The youngest victim of the mass killing was identified as Tywanza Sanders, a 2014 graduate of the division of business administration at Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, the school confirmed to the Guardian. |
| Other victims fatally wounded in the attack include Cynthia Hurd, a manager at the Charleston County public library and Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, a speech therapist and high school track coach. | |
| Ethel Lance, and her cousin, Susie Jackson, both longtime members of the church, were identified by family members as victims of the attack, according to the local Post & Courier newspaper. | Ethel Lance, and her cousin, Susie Jackson, both longtime members of the church, were identified by family members as victims of the attack, according to the local Post & Courier newspaper. |
| Mullen said previously that Roof sat among the congregation at Emanuel AME for nearly one hour before opening fire on the other attendants, killing six women and three men. Authorities said they did not yet know the motive for the attack, but 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. | Mullen said previously that Roof sat among the congregation at Emanuel AME for nearly one hour before opening fire on the other attendants, killing six women and three men. Authorities said they did not yet know the motive for the attack, but 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. |
| Mullen also said 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. | Mullen also said 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, the mayor, said at an earlier news conference that 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, the mayor, said at an earlier news conference that 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. |
| 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 |
| 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, bigotry 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. | 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. | “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”. | 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. | 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.” | “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.” | “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. |