Image of the suspect, released by the Charleston Police Department
Details are beginning to emerge from Wednesday night's
mass shooting that left nine dead at Emanuel AME, the historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina.
At a press conference earlier this morning, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen, who rightfully stated that this was a hate crime, said that three men and six women were killed, but did not release their names or ages. (However it has been confirmed that the pastor of the church, State Sen. Clementa Pinckney was among those who were killed.) There were three survivors. Mullen said that the suspect, who is still at large, arrived at the church an hour before he opened fire on the Bible study class. Mullen stated that it is currently unknown if anyone in the church or the church itself was specifically targeted, declined to identify the weapon that was used, and emphasized that the suspect is "a very dangerous individual" and cautioned against approaching him.
Mullen also provided a hotline number to call if anyone has information on the shooter: 800-CALL-FBI
We will continue to follow this story throughout the day.
4:49 AM PT: Community member RLF reminded me to call this what it is: Domestic terrorism. Thanks for that reminder, RLF.
5:15 AM PT:
#BREAKING- Reports: #Charleston shooter said,"You rape our women and are taking over our country & you have to go."Report coming on @NBCDFW
— @EricKingNBC5
5:47 AM PT: CNN is reporting that the Department of Justice and the FBI are opening a hate crime investigation into this shooting.
7:07 AM PT: According to a report from The Post & Courier: