SC

Charleston Church Shooting: The Latest

MANHUNT CONTINUES … DETAILS EMERGING || By FITSNEWS || Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies continued their search Thursday for the perpetrator of one of the deadliest church shootings in American history. The massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in historic Charleston, S.C. is the deadliest mass shooting on American soil since…

MANHUNT CONTINUES … DETAILS EMERGING

|| By FITSNEWS || Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies continued their search Thursday for the perpetrator of one of the deadliest church shootings in American history.

The massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in historic Charleston, S.C. is the deadliest mass shooting on American soil since the September 2013 Navy Yard slayings.  Nine people – including S.C. Senator Clementa Pinckney and his sister – were among the dead.

Three people survived the attack … which was said to have been perpetrated by this as-yet-unidentified individual.  One of the survivors was reportedly spared by the shooter in the hopes she would share the horrific details of the massacre.

UPDATE: Suspect has been identified as 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof of Columbia, S.C. 

UPDATE II: Roof arrested.

According to police, the gunman entered the church at around 8:00 p.m. EDT and sat with Pinckney and his fellow parishioners – who were participating in a Bible study/ prayer meeting.

At around 9:00 p.m. EDT, he opened fire – repeatedly.

NBC News interviewed Sylvia Johnson – a relative of Pinckney who spoke with one of the survivors.

“I have to do it,” the gunman is said to have told his victims as he reloaded his weapon. “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country.  And you have to go.”

Johnson says the shooter – who appeared to be wearing body armor under his sweatshirt – asked for Pinckney by name and sat next to him during the Bible study prior to launching his deadly attack.  That’s clear premeditation – and assuming evidence conclusively links this suspect to the slayings, it’s more evidence of the need for the death penalty to be sought in this case.

A massive manhunt late Wednesday and early Thursday failed to result in the apprehension of the suspect, although police believe he is still in the Charleston, S.C. area after fleeing the scene in a late 1990s/ early 2000s model Hyundai Elantra

“He has on a very distinctive sweatshirt as well as the vehicle, with a very distinctive license plate,” Charleston, S.C. police chief Greg Mullen said.

Mullen’s agency – along with Charleston County Sheriff’s deputies, the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – is investigating the crime.

Meanwhile, civil rights activist Al Sharpton was en route to Charleston, S.C. – the second time this year he’s been to the Palmetto State’s Lowcountry in response to a race related shooting.

As tensions mounted, elected officials across South Carolina recoiled at the tragedy.

“These brutal murders are the rare kind of horror that shakes at our very core,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan said in a statement. “I ask that you join me in praying for Charleston. Our brothers and sisters in Christ taken from us last night clearly believed in the power of prayer. They were praying and so should we. We are all children of God.”

Mother Emanuel is one of the oldest black congregations in the southern United States.  Organized in 1816, one of the church’s former houses of worship was burned to the ground during a pre-Civil War controversy over a slave revolt.  For decades, it was banned – along with all other black churches in the Palmetto State.  More recently, during the turbulent 1960s, it hosted civil rights events featuring Martin Luther King, Jr.

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31 comments

kibulldogck June 18, 2015 at 9:17 am

Sad, sad, sad. Prayers for the victims, their families, and all of Charleston.

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Squishy123 June 18, 2015 at 9:28 am

Uncle Al is headed to Charleston, so all is well. The only fucking reason he’s heading there is because that’s where the news cameras are.

Where’s Uncle Jessie been lately? Does he have the bad blood?

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Sad Day June 18, 2015 at 9:50 am

Yep. The massacre has gone international. The entire world is learning of it. Charleston’s tourism industry will take a blow. Tourist will be afraid of becoming victims. Anyone could walk in anywhere and just start shooting. Its scary, indeed. The city has a serious crime problem that it has tried to keep hidden. This horrible crime will bring it all out.
“CRIME WAVE IN CHARLESTON, SC” <<<< hmmmm?

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vicupstate June 18, 2015 at 9:54 am

Horse Shit. The crime rate in Charleston is not out of line with any other comparable city. It is a very terrible tragedy, Do people not go to Denver because the movie theater was shot up?

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CNSYD June 18, 2015 at 10:13 am

Keep dreaming Sad Day. Your hope and dream will not happen.

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Rocky June 18, 2015 at 10:30 am

Well I”m sure a cruise ship will dock soon enough – so we’ll see.

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CNSYD June 18, 2015 at 10:33 am

Oh No Sad Day! The alleged shooter is from Columbia. Well I guess that spells the end of tourism there, as if there was any.

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Rocky June 18, 2015 at 10:29 am

Squishy – he has an MSNBC show. If this was 10,000 Mexicans storming the border in El Paso I’d expect Hannity’s show to be from there.

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Squishy123 June 18, 2015 at 12:12 pm

Well that explains it, I don’t watch MSNBC.

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Tazmaniac June 18, 2015 at 9:34 am

The Daily Mail has a lot of coverage with really high quality pictures.

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Sad Day June 18, 2015 at 9:45 am

Sharpton is going to try and incite violence. I hope the black community in Charleston snubs his hate filled racist ass.

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Rocky June 18, 2015 at 10:28 am

I would guess he’s going to meet with the families and Pinkney’s congregation. Not incite violence.

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nitrat June 18, 2015 at 9:50 am

I tend to agree with a guy I just heard on CNN – this is terrorism, an act of terror committed to terrorize…which we hardly ever call terrorism if the terrorist is an American white guy.
If this had happened at a white church, war on/terror against Christians would be ALL we are reading on this blog.

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Sad Day June 18, 2015 at 9:51 am

I would call it terrorism, too. It will have a very negative impact on tourism in Charleston.

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Charlemagne, King of France June 18, 2015 at 10:30 am

Terrorism by definition has a political motive. because it appears to be motivated by race its a hate crime. however If it was because the senator was sponsoring a particular bill or supporting a particular presidential candidate it would be terrorism.

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TroubleBaby June 18, 2015 at 10:33 am

“I tend to agree with a guy I just heard on CNN – this is terrorism, an act of terror committed to terrorize”

The person who committed this might be mentally ill….it’s important to distinguish that if it’s the case.

His haircut reminds me of the sick kid up North and the whole elementary school thing.

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Just Saying June 18, 2015 at 9:58 am

The fact that black people are responsible for half of all homicides in the United States despite making up only 13% of the population would seemingly dispel the notion that disarming only white people makes any kind of sense.

Despite being outnumbered by whites five to one, blacks commit eight times more crimes against whites than vice-versa, according to FBI statistics from 2007. A black male is 40 times as likely to assault a white person as the reverse.

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Racist Pogo June 18, 2015 at 9:59 am

White people shoots black people, let’s blame black people!

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Black Roach June 18, 2015 at 10:09 am

Yo mama! Be back later. Is gotz to go gets me sum fried chickin for me lunch.

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Pogo The Racist June 18, 2015 at 10:13 am

Remember guys, racism is over, people aren’t racist anymore!

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tomstickler June 18, 2015 at 9:59 am

If ever there was an occasion to revive the Disqus “down vote”, now is the time.

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Racists Are Clickers Too June 18, 2015 at 10:02 am

Lots of racists here, but their clicks are just as valuable as ours buddy.

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Update June 18, 2015 at 10:03 am

BREAKING … shooter identified … is a high school student from Columbia, SC .

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Update June 18, 2015 at 10:07 am

Dillon Roof is the shooter. 21 years old … from Columbia, SC area.

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Cush June 18, 2015 at 10:11 am

The guy’s name is Dylann Roof. Has a criminal record. Real shocker. I hope they catch him and string him up.

P&C Article: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150618/PC16/150619404

His FB: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dylann-Roof/100009674437955

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BREAKING NEWS June 18, 2015 at 10:17 am Reply
BREAKING NEWS June 18, 2015 at 10:18 am

“The following subject is wanted for the shooting that occured in Charleston at the Emanuel AME Church. Subject is Dylann Storm Roof w/m 4/3/1994 5’9? 120 lbs. The subject should be driving a 2000 Hyundai Elantra GS, SC registration LGF330. The vehicle is dark-colored. Subject should be considered armed and dangerous and caution should be used if seen. “

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BREAKING NEWS June 18, 2015 at 10:22 am Reply
Rocky June 18, 2015 at 10:26 am

Christ Wil – last year the deck collapse. This year a shooting. Think maybe you need to stop taking vacations.

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Accuracyplease June 18, 2015 at 10:48 am

Remember: SC misogynist racist attorney, Todd Kincannon and friend if the publisher here, had 60k happily, racist followers. For which the State Bar did nothing.

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Accuracyplease June 18, 2015 at 7:29 pm

Save your tears Nikki. That you let the flag honoring racism, continue to fly, I hope sinks your slimey career.

From the Atlantic: “The Confederate flag’s defenders often claim it represents “heritage not hate.” I agree—the heritage of White Supremacy was not so much birthed by hate as by the impulse toward plunder. Dylann Roof plundered nine different bodies last night, plundered nine different families of an original member, plundered nine different communities of a singular member. An entire people are poorer for his action. The flag that Roof embraced, which many South Carolinians embrace, does not stand in opposition to this act—it endorses it. That the Confederate flag is the symbol of of white supremacists is evidenced by the very words of those who birthed it.

This moral truth—“that the negro is not equal to the white man”—is exactly what animated Dylann Roof. More than any individual actor, in recent history, Roof honored his flag in exactly the manner it always demanded—with human sacrifice.”

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