Friends say he openly talked about killing people, but they thought he was joking.
Depressing follow-up on the tragic shooting of 9 people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Accused shooter Dylann Storm Roof told friends he was
"looking to kill a lot of people":
"He flat out told us he was going to do this stuff," said Scriven. Roof moved close to the Lexington, S.C., trailer park about two months ago, he said.
Last Wednesday — exactly one week before the Charleston church massacre — Roof told his friends and neighbors at the park that "he was looking to kill a bunch of people on Wednesday" at the College of Charleston, Scriven said.
Friends say they thought he was joking. He was previously banned from a South Carolina mall:
A cop originally approached Roof, who was dressed in all black, because several store employees complained that he was asking bizarre questions, such as, “What time do you close?” and “How many associates are working?”
The officer searched him and found a narcotic, for which he was charged. He was also banned from the mall for a year, but ignored the order and was later arrested for trespassing. That got him a 3-year ban.
Another reminder for us all—don't take these statements lightly. If someone says they are going to kill people, take it seriously and get help. You might just prevent the next Dylann Roof from carrying out his plans.
1:22 PM PT: More information from a different friend:
Dalton Tyler, who said he has known Roof for seven months to one year, said he saw the white, 21-year-old suspect just last week.
“He was big into segregation and other stuff,” Tyler said. “He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.”
And:
Tyler said he met Roof, a Lexington, South Carolina native, 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.