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[h=4]Suspect in Charleston church rampage captured in North Carolina[/h]Dylann Storm Roof, the 21-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of nine people in an historic black church in downtown Charleston, was taken into custody Thursday near Shelby, N.C.
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Chief Gregory Mullen emphasized his department's commitment to catching the man suspected of killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Police confirm they currently do not know where the suspect is. WLTX TV
Charleston, S.C., police identified Dylann Roof, 21, as the shooter who opened fire inside the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday.(Photo: Lexington County, S.C., Detention Center via AP)
Dylann Storm Roof, the 21-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of nine people in an historic black church in downtown Charleston, was taken into custody Thursday near Shelby, N.C., by police alerted to suspicious activity along Highway 74 west of Charlotte.
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said Roof, who was captured barely 14 hours after a gunmen opened fire in the Emanuel AME church, was "cooperative" when arrested by Shelby police officers. Shelby is 245 miles northwest of Charleston.
Asked if authorities believe Roof had acted alone in his alleged attack, Mullen said "we don't have any reason to believe anyone else was involved."
Roof was the object of an intense manhunt after police issued surveillance photos of the suspect taken outside the church and, within hours, released his name and photograph.
Mullen said he was finally captured after a citizen in the Shelby area alerted police to "suspicious activity" by a motorist. When police arrived, he said, "they realized it was the individual they were looking for."
The police chief said the tragedy had "touched the heart and soul of every person in this community" and thanked the "unparalleled cooperation" of all agencies involved.
Charleston Mayor Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said the arrest of this "awful man" would begin the "necessary process of our healing together."
Police said the suspect, from Columbia, S.C., had been sought in a black Hyundai with vehicle tag LGF330 and appealed to the public for any information on his whereabouts.
A Facebook page for a Dylann Roof' carries a photo of a young man in a bowl-like haircut similar to the image in a surveillance photo outside the Emanuel AME church just before the killings Wednesday night. The page says he attended White Knoll High School in Lexington.
The Facebook page also carries a photo of Roof standing in in front of a swamp forest wearing a jacket with patches of the racist-era flags of South Africa and Rhodesia, the one white-ruled country now called Zimbabwe.
Lexington County, S.C. court records show Roof was arrested on March 2 on criminal possession of a controlled substance. The records indicate it may be a first offense. The case is pending. He was also jailed on April 26 on a trespassing charge.
Police, beefed up by additional FBI agents flown in from Washington, appealed to the public Thursday for tips on the whereabouts the suspect, described as a lone white gunman.
The suspect's uncle, Carson Cowles, 56, tells Reuters that he recognized the young man in the surveillance photo as his nephew.
"The more I look at him, the more I'm convinced, that's him," Carson Cowles, 56, tells Reuters in a phone interview.
Cowles said Roof was given a gun by his father as a 21st birthday present in April.
The killer walked into the church Wednesday evening and sat with the Bible group for about an hour before pulling out a weapon and firing, reportedly reloading several times.
A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that the shooter was believed to be armed with a handgun and allegedly shouted racial epithets at the time of the attack. The information came from interviews with survivors, said the official who is not authorized to comment publicly.
The official also said a semi-automatic handgun had been kept in the suspect's home.
"This is an all-hands-on-deck effort with the community as well as law enforcement," Mullen said. "When people go out they should be vigilant, they should be aware of their surroundings. And if they see anything suspicious, they should call law enforcement."
"No one in this community will forget this night," said Mullen, who called the killings at the Emanuel AME church a "hate crime."
In Washington, the Justice Department said its Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina are opening a hate crime investigation into the shooting.
The nine victims — three men and six women — included pastor, Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a South Carolina state senator, State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press.
Eight of the victims died at the church and the ninth died at a hospital. Three people survived, police said.
Sylvia Johnson, a cousin of Pinckney, the pastor, said one of the survivors told her that the gunman reloaded five times during the ordeal.
At point, as he was reloading, members of the group tried to get him to stop, Johnson told WIS News.
"He just said 'I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go," Johnson said.
Dot Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP, said the gunman apparently allowed one woman to live so that she could tell others what happened inside the church.
Mayor Riley called the killings "the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy."
"The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," Riley said. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person."
Police issued photos of the suspect and his apparent getaway car, a four-door, black sedan.
The gunman, called "armed and dangerous," was described as a white male in his early 20s, with sandy blond hair. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with a yellow symbol on his left side.
The photo of the suspect, taken by a surveillance camera, indicated that he is about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and sported a distinctive bowl-like haircut, possibly a wig.
Mark Pitcavage, director of investigative research at the Anti-Defamation League, said the patches of South Africa and Rhodesia worn on Roof's jacket could provide clues as to his ideological views.
"No one randomly puts those particular images on clothing or Facebook profiles," said Pitcavage says. "That implies intent and a particular world view. This is not someone simply motivated by hate but may have been motivated by a particular ideology as well."
The church is a historic African-American church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church.
Community organizer Christopher Cason said he felt certain the shootings were racially motivated. "I am very tired of people telling me that I don't have the right to be angry," Cason said. "I am very angry right now."
Pinckney, the 41-year-old pastor, was a married father of two who was elected to the state house at age 23, making him the youngest member of the House at the time.
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The S.C. state Senator and pastor killed when a gunman shot up his Charleston church was an advocate for safe churches. In the state legislator in 2013, Sen. Clementa Pinckney supported a bill that would expand penalties for church vandalism. WLTX
"He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should," Rutherford, D-Columbia, said. "He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody."
Emanuel is the oldest AME church in the South and has one of the oldest and largest black congregations south of Baltimore, according to its website. Denmark Vesey, executed for attempting to organize a major slave rebellion in 1822, was one of the founders.
Said Police Chief Mullen: "This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. It is senseless. It is unfathomable that someone would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
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Pinckney was a native of Beaufort, S.C., and graduated magna cum laude from Allen University in 1995. He received a master's of divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a master's degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina. He was elected to the South Carolina House in 1996, when he was 23, and was elected to the state Senate in 2000.
Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement: "The NAACP was founded to fight against racial hatred and we are outraged that 106 years later, we are faced today with another mass hate crime.
"There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture."
In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked people to pray for the victims and their families. "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," she said.
Senator Tim Scott, who last year became the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate from the south since Reconstruction, said in a statement that he will be leaving Washington to return home to South Carolina as soon as possible.
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"My heart is breaking for Charleston and South Carolina tonight," he said. "This senseless tragedy at a place of worship — where we come together to laugh, love and rejoice in God's name — is absolutely despicable and can never be understood."
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was in Charleston hours before the shooting, tweeted: "Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all. -H."
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush canceled his events in the city, where he was scheduled to campaign Thursday.
"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his spokesperson Allie Brandenburger said in a statement.
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGAttorney General: Charleston shooting 'barbaric' | 01:24Speaking at a press conference, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the shooting that killed 9 people at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina both "barbaric" and "heartless." VPC
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGSlain pastor Clementa Pinckney will be 'sorely missed' | 01:07Pastor Clementa Pinckney is among those killed in a shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The 41-year-old was also serving as a South Carolina state senator at the time of his death. VPC
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGCharleston police: 'We will catch' church shooter | 01:12Chief Gregory Mullen emphasized his department's commitment to catching the man suspected of killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Police confirm they currently do not know where the suspect is. WLTX TV
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGPastor killed in church massacre was a 'leader' | 01:01After news of South Carolina state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney's death at the hands of a gunman at his Charleston church, fellow State Senator Kevin Johnson said Pinckney had a passion for the less fortunate in his state. WLTX
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING9 dead in Charleston after church massacre | 00:58Nine people, including state senator Celementa Pinckney, were killed during a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Pinckney was also the pastor of the church. Police say the shooting was a hate crime. VPC
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGSen. killed in church wanted 'people to feel safe' there | 00:30The S.C. state Senator and pastor killed when a gunman shot up his Charleston church was an advocate for safe churches. In the state legislator in 2013, Sen. Clementa Pinckney supported a bill that would expand penalties for church vandalism. WLTX
CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTINGPolice: Charleston church shooting was a hate crime | 00:54Authorities are looking for a young white man in connection to the massacre at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC where a gunman opened fire, killing nine people. WLTX TV
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Contributing: Kevin Johnson in Washington; Alan Gomez, in Miami; Kevin McCoy in New York; Tyler Page in McLean, Va.; Jane Onyanga-Omara
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