US: White gunman caught in killing of 9 in historic black church

[webfact]

White gunman caught in killing of 9 in historic black church
By JEFFREY COLLINS and RUSS BYNUM

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A white man who joined a prayer meeting inside a historic black church and then fatally shot nine people was captured without resistance Thursday after an all-night manhunt, Charleston's police chief said.

Dylann Storm Roof, 21, spent nearly an hour inside the church Wednesday night before killing six women and three men, including the pastor, Chief Greg Mullen said. A citizen spotted his car in Shelby, North Carolina, nearly four hours away.

The chief wouldn't discuss a motive. Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. called it "pure, pure concentrated evil." Stunned community leaders and politicians condemned the attack on The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department has begun a hate crime investigation.

President Barack Obama, who personally knew the slain pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, said these shootings have to stop.

"At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," Obama said.

Pinckney, 41, was a married father of two who spent 19 years in the South Carolina legislature. He became the youngest member of the House when he was first elected as a Democrat at 23.

"He had a core not many of us have," said Sen. Vincent Sheheen, who sat beside Pinckney in the Senate. "I think of the irony that the most gentle of the 46 of us — the best of the 46 of us in this chamber — is the one who lost his life."

The other victims were identified as Cynthia Hurd, 54; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; and DePayne Doctor.

Sanders had recently graduated from Allen University. Hurd worked for Charleston County's library system for 31 years. Doctor was an enrollment counselor at Southern Wesleyan University's Charleston Campus, according to a friend.

Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said autopsies would be conducted over the next several days and did not have specific information on how many times the victims were shot or the locations of their injuries.

Roof's childhood friend, Joey Meek, alerted the FBI after recognizing him in a surveillance camera image, said Meek's mother, Kimberly Konzny. Roof had worn the same sweatshirt while playing Xbox videogames in their home recently.

"I don't know what was going through his head," Konzny said. "He was a really sweet kid. He was quiet. He only had a few friends."

Roof had been to jail: State court records show a pending felony drug case and a past misdemeanor trespassing charge.

He also displayed the flags of defeated white-ruled regimes: a Confederate flag was on his license plate, Konzny said, and a photo on his Facebook page shows him wearing a jacket with stitched-on flag patches from Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa.

Roof wasn't known to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., and it's not clear whether he had any connection to the 16 white supremacist organizations operating in South Carolina, but he appears to be a "disaffected white supremacist," based on his Facebook page, said the center's president, Richard Cohen.

The shooting evoked painful memories of other attacks. Black churches were bombed in the 1960s when they served as organizing hubs for the Civil Rights movement, and burned by arsons across the South in the 1990s. Others survived shooting sprees.

This particular congregation, which formed in 1816, has its own grim history: A founder, Denmark Vesey, was hanged after trying to organize a slave revolt in 1822, and white landowners burned the church in revenge, leaving parishioners to worship underground until after the Civil War.

This shooting "should be a warning to us all that we do have a problem in our society," said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Democrat whose district includes the church. "There's a race problem in our country. There's a gun problem in our country. We need to act on them quickly."

"Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a horrible hateful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained," Riley said. "We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family."

NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said "there is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people."

A few bouquets of flowers tied to a police barricade outside the church formed a small but growing memorial.

"Today I feel like it's 9-11 again," Bob Dyer, who works in the area, said after leaving an arrangement of yellow flowers wrapped in plastic. "I'm in shock."

The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston, which increased racial tensions. The officer awaits trial for murder, and the shooting prompted South Carolina to pass a law, co-sponsored by Pinckney, to equip police statewide with body cameras.
___

Contributors include Alex Sanz, Meg Kinnard and David Goldman in Charleston, South Carolina; Eric Tucker in Washington and Jacob Jordan in Atlanta.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-19

[Basil B]

Picture I saw, he was wearing a bullet proof jacket, and appears to have a black eye...

Just hope they have the right guy.

[BudRight]

Yet another shooting in a "gun free" zone. One can only imagine the carnage if the whole country was so.

[steven100]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

[geriatrickid]

Yet another shooting in a "gun free" zone. One can only imagine the carnage if the whole country was so.

Wow. So you expect a sanctuary of the Lord, a place of peace to be desecrated by firearms?

People should not have to be armed inside a church or anywhere else for that matter.

If you can't understand that there is something wrong with a minority who force others to live in fear and danger just so they can run around with guns says it all.

[Berkshire]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Yes, it's that simple. But in America, it's anything but. The pro-gun folks are already out firing with both barrels (in a manner of speaking), saying that this could only happen in a "gun-free zone." Gun ownership is so entrenched in the American psyche that I can't see anything changing in our lifetimes. The pro-gun lobby and the people who support them are so powerful and well-funded that even politicians (read people who make laws) won't mess with them. So get used to it, America, this will keep happening over and over again.

[Asiantravel]

And yet again a mass killer in USA whose behaviour (just like virtually all the other recent mass killers that have preceded him) had raised so many red flags that it shouldn’t have been difficult for law enforcement authorities to keep a close tag on him. What’s going on?

So much has been made of the ability of USA law enforcement authorities to spy on ordinary individuals with their 1.5 billion-dollar one million square-foot Utah " mission data repository " that one wonders what exactly they are doing there?

Edited June 19, 2015 by Asiantravel

[beechguy]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Sure, we could live like Australians, scared of a two bit actor, and his two house dogs.

[BudRight]

Hey, maybe you guys are right and it will be just like banning drugs...oh wait.

[beechguy]

And yet again a mass killer in USA whose behaviour (just like virtually all the other recent mass killers that have preceded him) had raised so many red flags that it shouldn’t have been difficult for law enforcement authorities to keep a close tag on him. What’s going on?

So much has been made of the ability of USA law enforcement authorities to spy on ordinary individuals with their 1.5 billion-dollar one million square-foot Utah " mission data repository " that one wonders what exactly they are doing there?

The U.S. overcorrected. In decades past, there was horrible abuse of the mentally ill. So with current laws, it is more difficult to detain these kinds of people, for fear of violating their Constitutional rights.

[steven100]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Sure, we could live like Australians, scared of a two bit actor, and his two house dogs.

I'll be frank and honest with you as you think it's ok for everyone to carry a gun.

I wouldn't like to live in a town where everyone had a gun ..... I wouldn't feel safe at all !!!

... Surely you can see the common sense in not giving people access to a gun !!

[pitrevie]

What we need is another graph telling us that more guns equals less crime. When its legal for a man to walk into an international airport with a firearm strapped over his shoulder what does one expect.

[beechguy]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Sure, we could live like Australians, scared of a two bit actor, and his two house dogs.

I'll be frank and honest with you as you think it's ok for everyone to carry a gun.

I wouldn't like to live in a town where everyone had a gun ..... I wouldn't feel safe at all !!!

... Surely you can see the common sense in not giving people access to a gun !!

And I'll be frank and honest, when I tell you, you have a reading comprehension problem. I never said that I thought it was ok, for everyone to have a firearm.

But, I have been surrounded by firearms all my life, and never had a problem, even in the U.S. The problem for people outside, is they just don't realize how ignorant of the situation they truly are.

The problem is, the anti-gun folks can't come up with a workable, practical plan. If you enforce background checks, and that's fine, the criminals will just avoid buying there, as is already the case. They want to ban, wrongly termed, "assault weapons", this idiot didn't need one, the Navy Shipyard shooter didn't need one, the NJ cop that just shot his ex-wife, didn't need one. They want to reduce magazine capacities, again that didn't stop this guy, he reportedly reloaded five times to kill nine people, it didn't stop the Navy Shipyard shooter, unless it was modified, that shotgun shouldn't have held more than five rounds.

So, when someone gets a good plan, I would probably support it. But, I think we have a problem with society, and the guns are just a symptom. so I think we need to attack this from a different angle.

Edited June 19, 2015 by beechguy

[beechguy]

What we need is another graph telling us that more guns equals less crime. When its legal for a man to walk into an international airport with a firearm strapped over his shoulder what does one expect.

I don't know, how many people did that guy shoot? Oh, that's right he didn't did he.

As to more guns, I've never had a problem. But a story I've told before, is that my Stepfather, and my Mother were running a small country store. Only one was armed, but three robbers came in, and he killed one, the other two went to jail for quite a while on Capitol Felony Murder charges. So, no, not everyone should have a firearm, but they can be quite handy when needed.

Edited June 19, 2015 by beechguy

[vogie]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Sure, we could live like Australians, scared of a two bit actor, and his two house dogs.

I'll be frank and honest with you as you think it's ok for everyone to carry a gun.

I wouldn't like to live in a town where everyone had a gun ..... I wouldn't feel safe at all !!!

... Surely you can see the common sense in not giving people access to a gun !!

You are so right, but there's none so blind as those who do not want to see.

[MaxYakov]

Yet another shooting in a "gun free" zone. One can only imagine the carnage if the whole country was so.

Wow. So you expect a sanctuary of the Lord, a place of peace to be desecrated by firearms?

People should not have to be armed inside a church or anywhere else for that matter.

If you can't understand that there is something wrong with a minority who force others to live in fear and danger just so they can run around with guns says it all.

Hmmm ... some people seem to have short memories or are just not paying attention:

Female Security Guard Kills Gunman in Church - CNN 10 Dec 2007

Edited June 19, 2015 by MaxYakov

[Praematura]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Yep but 95% of America wants gun control of some kind but your gun lobby wasn't as strong as ours. Yea also your pm got <deleted> for passing said law. Vice did an interview with him. He actually put the country before himself. Shocking. Not going to happen in USA.

[steven100]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

Sure, we could live like Australians, scared of a two bit actor, and his two house dogs.

I'll be frank and honest with you as you think it's ok for everyone to carry a gun.

I wouldn't like to live in a town where everyone had a gun ..... I wouldn't feel safe at all !!!

... Surely you can see the common sense in not giving people access to a gun !!

And I'll be frank and honest, when I tell you, you have a reading comprehension problem. I never said that I thought it was ok, for everyone to have a firearm.

But, I have been surrounded by firearms all my life, and never had a problem, even in the U.S. The problem for people outside, is they just don't realize how ignorant of the situation they truly are.

The problem is, the anti-gun folks can't come up with a workable, practical plan. If you enforce background checks, and that's fine, the criminals will just avoid buying there, as is already the case. They want to ban, wrongly termed, "assault weapons", this idiot didn't need one, the Navy Shipyard shooter didn't need one, the NJ cop that just shot his ex-wife, didn't need one. They want to reduce magazine capacities, again that didn't stop this guy, he reportedly reloaded five times to kill nine people, it didn't stop the Navy Shipyard shooter, unless it was modified, that shotgun shouldn't have held more than five rounds.

So, when someone gets a good plan, I would probably support it. But, I think we have a problem with society, and the guns are just a symptom. so I think we need to attack this from a different angle.

I take your point and agree in part , however I still think tougher gun laws ... in that access to a firearm being virtually zero unless you have a damn good case , is a much safer existence than one where it's easy to own a gun.

Problem is .. like Australia the doogooders jump up and down and claim discrimination or it's a person right to own a firearm or whatever ...

I say ban them altogether. IMO.

[JemJem]

Very sad and horrifying incident.

He won't have life easy in a US max-security prison (unlike the Norweigian fascist Breivik, who is having a comfy prison life in Norway). There will be dozens of inmates who will want to get him. He will most likely be executed, I think (possibly after many many years of jail, as this is the standard procedure in the US, with a long judicial appeals process).

Edited June 19, 2015 by JemJem

[ICECOOL]

Seems to me racism is the underlying problem in the US. All I here and read is a call for racial unity and all I see are people who claim they are not racist but act like they are (black, white, Hispanic etc) The actions and reactions of Police are reflection of society and US has a BIG problem not easily solved. Then give people with hate in their hearts guns and you have a recipe for mass murder. US is fast becoming a second world country.

[Basil B]

Yet another shooting in a "gun free" zone. One can only imagine the carnage if the whole country was so.

Come and live in the UK where the odds of being killed with gun is 1/40th that of the USA, and for a simple traffic violation your grandma is not likely to have some gun totting cop shouting down a bullhorn "get out the car with your hands up".

[EnglishJohn]

This is a terrible act - but clearly done by an individual who is insane and should be judged accordingly.

In an interview with a local I saw on the BBC last night, if you reversed the words 'black' and 'white' in his comments, they would never have aired it because of how racist it was.

But the other way around it's OK.

Racism should be treated equally for both sides.

[Jay Sata]

The guy is a red necked moron from the swamps.

Sadly many more like him in that part of the world where it is considered the norm to drive vehicles emablazoned with the confederate flag and own many guns.

This sort of killing spree is a regular event in the USA.

[simple1]

<snip>

I haven't a clue why anyone would give him a firearm. Apparently, he had been arrested fairly recently for trespassing, and I don't recall the other charge.

First conviction was for possessing a drug used for opiate addiction. His father gave him a .45 for his 21st birthday.

Edited June 19, 2015 by simple1

[contraian]

Does Thailand have gun control? I believe it does yet I read stories every day almost where someone gets injured or killed by another person having one. Just yesterday in fact a gentleman was killed by his boyfriend. The US has plenty of laws on the books to stop illegal gun possession. The determined will always find ways to get what they want and so the criminals will have the guns and the law abiding people will be unprotected in a dangerous situation when the police are no where to be found.

[steven100]

In Thailand the most common occurrence is when two thai are sitting drinking whiskey all day and one says the wrong thing or calls him something that offends him .... he goes home and comes back and shoots the other.

In America it's a rant racist issue or problem and the guy goes home, comes back and shoots nine in a church.

If there were strict gun laws in place and these people could not own and are not allowed to have a gun, then they cannot shoot anyone. !!

how hard is it to work out.

Edited June 19, 2015 by steven100

[CMNightRider]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

You don't have to be "sad," it's safe to attend church in America. "If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia....there would not be so many shootings in the US"???? Really??? OMG!

If gun laws in America were similar to Australia, only the criminals would own firearms. I don't think that would be a good idea but thanks for the suggestion.

Hopefully, the gunman that killed these 9 people will receive the death penalty, and his father will be held accountable for buying his mentally unstable son a firearm. What is interesting, is generally speaking the people who would like to see firearms banned in America, want the death penalty banned as well.

[steven100]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

You don't have to be "sad," it's safe to attend church in America. "If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia....there would not be so many shootings in the US"???? Really??? OMG!

If gun laws in America were similar to Australia, only the criminals would own firearms. I don't think that would be a good idea but thanks for the suggestion.

Hopefully, the gunman that killed these 9 people will receive the death penalty, and his father will be held accountable for buying his mentally unstable son a firearm. What is interesting, is generally speaking the people who would like to see firearms banned in America, want the death penalty banned as well.

If that mentally unstable person couldn't get a firearm it reduces the chances of him shooting anyone.

[CMNightRider]

In Thailand the most common occurrence is when two thai are sitting drinking whiskey all day and one says the wrong thing or calls him something that offends him .... he goes home and comes back and shoots the other.

In America it's a rant racist issue or problem and the guy goes home, comes back and shoots nine in a church.

If there were strict gun laws in place and these people could not own and are not allowed to have a gun, then they cannot shoot anyone. !!

how hard is it to work out.

Maybe using Thailand isn't a good example to use for stricter gun control. Thailand has the highest gun murder rate in Asia, according to www.gunpolicy.org, a site hosted by the University of Sydney's School of Public Health in Australia. "How hard is it to work out."

[CMNightRider]

Charleston is grieving ..... very sad that people can not even be safe in church.

If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia ... there would not be so many shootings in the US.

Guns kill people and the people who have easy access to guns kill people ... it's not rocket science ...

You don't have to be "sad," it's safe to attend church in America. "If the gun laws were similar to that of Australia....there would not be so many shootings in the US"???? Really??? OMG!

If gun laws in America were similar to Australia, only the criminals would own firearms. I don't think that would be a good idea but thanks for the suggestion.

Hopefully, the gunman that killed these 9 people will receive the death penalty, and his father will be held accountable for buying his mentally unstable son a firearm. What is interesting, is generally speaking the people who would like to see firearms banned in America, want the death penalty banned as well.

If that mentally unstable person couldn't get a firearm it reduces the chances of him shooting anyone.

I forgot to mention, generally the same people who want to ban firearms, and ban the death penalty, will be weeping over this idiot receiving the death penalty because he is mentally unstable.