Suspect attended meeting at church, stay for almost an hour before shooting, police say

The Associated Press
Posted: Jun 18, 2015 6:22 AM ET|
Last Updated: Jun 18, 2015 8:00 AM ET

A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime.

The suspect attended the meeting at the church Wednesday night and stayed for nearly an hour before the deadly gunfire erupted, Police Chief Greg Mullen said.

The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle. Mullen said he could not offer a make and model on the dark coloured sedan because investigators were not certain about what is shown in the video.

The victims of the shooting were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details about the victims.

Asked if the survivors of the shooting knew the suspect, Mullen said that is part of the ongoing investigation.

"No one in this community will ever forget this night," he said.

The shooter remains at large and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle.

Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.

"This is a very dangerous individual," Mullen said. "We want to identify this individual and arrest him before he hurts anyone else," the chief said.

Mullen said the scene at the church was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away.

"We will put all effort, we will put all resources and we will put all of our energy into finding this individual who committed this crime tonight," he said.

The FBI will aid the investigation, Mullen told a news conference that was attended by FBI Special Agent in Charge David A. Thomas.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley called the shooting "an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and a deranged mind."


State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press that the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed.

Pinckney 41, 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.

"He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should," Rutherford said. "He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody."

The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighbouring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area. The officer has been charged with murder, and the shooting prompted South Carolina lawmakers to push through a bill helping all police agencies in the state get body cameras. Pinckney was a sponsor of that bill.

In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence at religious institutions.

"We'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," Haley said.

Soon after Wednesday night's shooting, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street.

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."

Even before Scott's shooting in April, Cason said he had been part of a group meeting with police and local leaders to try to shore up relations.

The Emmanuel AME church is a historic black church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church.

One of its founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. He was caught, and white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/charleston ... -1.3118131

I was just reading about this ~ I canNOT imagine living with the sustained level of hatred this massacre required ~

Rest in peace, to those who were slaughtered ~ and wishing peace and healing to those who survived ~

Sooz

Charleston church shooting: Suspected gunman arrested

A 21-year-old man suspected of killing nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been arrested.

Police said Dylan Roof, of Lexington, South Carolina, was detained during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina.

The gunman is reported to have sat in on a bible study meeting for a full hour before opening fire on the group.

Six women and three men, including the church pastor, were killed. A hate crimes investigation has been launched.

US President Barack Obama said he and his wife had known several members of the Emanuel AME Church, including the pastor Clementa Pinckney.

He called the church a "sacred place" in the history of Charleston and spoke of his confidence that the congregation and the community would "rise again".

He also raised the issue of gun ownership, saying "communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times".

"At some point," he said, "we as a country have to reckon with the fact that this type of massacre does not happen in other advanced countries". (They do happen but not in "biblical proportions")

At the scene: The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan

The streets close to the church are deserted, save for a few uniformed police officers. A trickle of people arrive to lay flowers for the victims.

"Peace for the church, the family and their loved ones," reads one handwritten note, tucked into a bouquet of bright flowers. A short drive away mourners have arrived for a vigil in memory of the deceased.

Rev Vanessa Johnson is from a nearby church but knew one of the reported victims, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

"All of us are in shock... We are at a loss for words," she says. Rev Johnson says the Emmanuel church holds a special place in this city's hearts, making the events of Wednesday night so difficult to digest.

The weekly bible study meeting was under way in the church on Calhoun Street when the shooting unfolded at about 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Thursday).

Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen said that when police arrived at the scene eight people were already dead in the church and one other person died later in hospital. There were three survivors, he added.
Police released images from surveillance cameras showing a suspect they described as white, clean shaven with a slender build entering the building a full hour before the shooting.

He was then seen driving away in a black four-door saloon car.

Police and officials were quick to call it a hate crime, and the US Department of Justice said it would open a federal hate crimes investigation.

Speaking after the arrest, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said they would be "looking at all of the facts, all of the motivations" to determine the best way to prosecute any case.

The killings have sent shockwaves through a community that has already experienced heightened racial tension in recent months.

The shooting two months ago of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man by a white police officer in North Charleston, prompted angry protests. The officer has since been charged with murder.

Clementa Pinckney, the 42-year-old pastor of the church, was also a Democratic state senator in South Carolina.

He had recently sponsored a bill to make body cameras mandatory for all police officers in South Carolina in response to the death of Walter Scott.

The Emanuel AME Church

◾Oldest African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in US south
◾Referred to as "Mother Emanuel"
◾Roots stem from group of free blacks and slaves in 1791
◾Denmark Vesey - one of the founders - was a leader of a failed slave revolt in 1822
◾Rebuilt in 1891, replacing church damaged by 1886 earthquake
◾Civil rights leader Martin Luther King gave a speech at the church in April 1962

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33190735

Damn. Gramma and and I spent a couple hours in that church on one of our rides, maybe 5 years ago. It was on a weekday, and one of the staff walked us through, talked about the history of helping slaves to escape and begin their journey north. Told how particular hymns were sung as code to communicate when, where and how an escape might be begun.

I want Wayne LaPierre to go on radio and TV say of the shooter, "That dirty son of a bitch! That goddam racist pig! There is no room in the NRA for him or anyone who has the faintest glimmer of sympathy for his ignorant, racist ass! If anyone in our membership had any part in that asshole getting a firearm, be on notice, you are not welcome here in the NRA! I am so sorry for what happened in Charleston last night. We're going to work harder, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and with elected officials from both political parties, to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of people who are likely to use them in this way, and if that means stricter regulation of firearms, so be it."

Fox news is playing it up as an attack on Christianity.

Don't hold your breath, Tom. LaPierre is more likely to say that if the entire congregation had been armed this could have been prevented. (But then I'm sure you know that's how he would respond.)

Gun deaths are as Murrican as apple pie.

Today, yes, but it wasn't always this way.

Are you sure?

It's been worse and it's been better.

As far as I know the US has never been in a situation where they weren't either killing somebody else and/or one another, with brown people usually on the receiving end.

If only we could be like the rest of the world that never does such despicable things, is that what you're saying Oskar?

We certainly have our share of shameful history, but few nations can claim any moral superiority.

is that what you're saying Oskar?

Nope. Never have, never will.
I will say that the US has done and is doing far more damage than its share, though.

oskar576 wrote:

[/i]


It has also done a lot more good than its share - providing there's something in it for them. (That's from a Clinton executive order, BTW).

This confirms my loathing/detesting/abhorring the NRA is well placed ~ I thought my head might explode as I was reading this ~ ~ there are a few "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

NRA Board Member Blames Charleston Victim For His Own Death
by Judd Legum Posted on June 18, 2015 at 8:58 pm Updated: June 18, 2015 at 9:13 pm

NRA board member Charles Cotton blamed Clementa Pinckney, a victim of the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, for his own death. He also blamed Pinckney, the pastor of Emanuel AME and a state senator, for the deaths of the other eight people killed.

As a state senator, Pinckney supported tougher gun regulations and opposed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in churches. On TexasCHLForum.com, a message board, Cotton wrote that “Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.”


You can read more about the life and legacy of Clementa Pinckney here.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/18/3671649/nra-board-member-blames-charleston-victim-death/

How does one define a nation's "share"?

I'll willingly criticize my country on specific points (The Iraq War, slavery, etc.), but we are just one nation among many. Any nation that prospers and grows finds itself in the position of wielding influence, often more than it should and too often that leads to mistakes. It happened with the Romans, with the British, and with the Russians.

Allow me to add one more thing in defense of my country. While many nations fought bravely in WWII, if you eliminate the efforts of the U.S. that war would most probably have been won by Germany and Japan. We emerged from that war a military superpower. It wasn't a choice of our citizens but how events unfolded. Put any other nation in the same position and they would get some things right and some things wrong just as we have.

While many nations fought bravely in WWII, if you eliminate the efforts of the U.S. that war would most probably have been won by Germany and Japan

When the US finally entered WWII Germany was already defeated, and we can thank the Soviets for that. As to Japan, they too would have eventually been defeated. In both cases it was a matter of time. WWII would probably have dragged on for another 5 years but the outcome would have been the same.

So can we look at the numbers of dead, maimed and displaced caused by each nation? We can start post WWII, if you wish. Prior to that the numbers become more iffy.

Germany was hardly defeated when the U.S. entered the war. I agree it would have dragged on longer, but can't agree about the outcome. In any case, we can only guess.

NRA Board Member Blames Charleston Victim For His Own Death

Sick, but sadly not surprising.

Like I said above about LaPierre, he is "more likely to say that if the entire congregation had been armed this could have been prevented."

As a state senator, Pinckney supported tougher gun regulations and opposed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in churches. On TexasCHLForum.com, a message board, Cotton wrote that “Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.”

I just can't figure out how to have this conversation. There is scientific evidence- fewer guns equal fewer deaths. The shooter did not go to the church because there were no guns. He went to the church because there were black people there and he wanted to kill them. I think that he would have done so even if guns were allowed in the church. I think he did not research this prior to deciding to go there.

Friends are posting something from the comical conservative all over Facebook saying that A gunman opened fire in a church and killed people and a woman pulled out her gun and shot him but liberals don't want you to know this. They don't mention that she was a police officer. This is what she posted in response:

Jeanne Assam This post about me could not be further from the truth. Since when is most of what we read on the internet true? The factual account is far more intense and interesting than what has been written. http://www.jeanneassam.com

Breitbart is publishing that Obama is politicizing the incident to call out Congress on gun control.

I really think that Obama's presidency has brought the racists out of the woodwork. I think race relations have been worse under this administration than any I can remember.And this has fueled the gun lobby and drawn people to it.

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3:20 PM - 19 Jun 2015

You might want to deepen your knowledge of WWII. There was no way Germany would win. None.
They had one shot at it and blew it. They underestimated the "enemy".
Had Japan not attacked the US might have simply sat back a watched while continuing to sell war materiel to anybody who wanted to buy it.

If people want to discuss WWII, someone should start a thread on it ~ the Charleston massacre is too important a topic in and of itself to go so far off-track ~

Sooz

More to the story from Sooz's post....

An NRA board member blamed the pastor killed in
Charleston for the deaths of his members
By Christopher Ingraham June 19 at 10:31 AM
Charles L. Cotton is a National Rifle Association board member who also runs
TexasCHLForum.com, an online discussion forum about guns and guns rights
in Texas and beyond. In a discussion thread yesterday which has since been
deleted, a commenter noted that one of the 9 people slain at a Charleston
church, Clementa C. Pinckney, was a pastor and a state legislator in South
Carolina. Cotton responded:
And he voted against concealed-carry. Eight of his church members
who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry
handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his
position on a political issue.
The page carrying Cotton's comments seems to have disappeared from the site,
but a screen shot is below:
In a phone interview from Texas, Cotton emphasized that his comments were
made not in his capacity as an NRA board member, but as a private citizen who
runs a gun discussion forum. "It was a discussion we were having about so
called gun-free zones,
" he said when asked about his remarks. "It's my opinion
that there should not be any gun-free zones in schools or churches or anywhere
else. If we look at mass shootings that occur, most happen in gun-free zones."
If private citizens were allowed to carry guns everywhere, Cotton says, there will
be fewer mass shootings because potential shooters would not be able to target
gun-free areas. And if they did,
"if armed citizens are in there, they have a
chance to defend themselves and other citizens."
Reached by phone, an NRA spokesman said that "individual board members do
not speak for the NRA and do not have the authority to speak for the NRA."
From a gun rights perspective, these are common arguments: the NRA has long
maintained that the solution to gun crime is more guns, not less. In response to
the mass killing of school children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012,
NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre argued that "the only way to stop a bad guy
with a gun is with a good guy with a gun." He went on to propose putting an
armed police officer in every school in America.
But research generally has taken issue with these arguments. More guns means
more crime, according to a massive multi-year study released last fall. And this
is especially true when it comes to homicide, according to the Harvard School of
Public Health: "a broad array of evidence indicates that gun availability is a risk
factor for homicide, both in the United States and across high-income
countries. Case-control studies, ecological time-series and cross-sectional
studies indicate that in homes, cities, states and regions in the US, where there
are more guns, both men and women are at higher risk for homicide,
particularly firearm homicide."
A recent report from the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy group,
analyzing FBI data found that "guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop
crimes." In 2012, there were 8,342 criminal gun homicides, compared to only
259 justifiable gun homicides, according to the report.
And last year, an FBI report on mass shootings found that unarmed citizens were three times more likely to successfully stop an active shooter than armed
private citizens. Armed civilians stopped only 4 percent of the mass shooting
incidents in the FBI's study.
This post has been updated with a statement from an NRA spokesman and a
screen shot of the site. The headline has also been changed.
Christopher Ingraham writes about politics, drug policy and all things data. He previously
worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center.

wapo.st/1Rh7MgG

I suppose US military bases should stop being "gun free zones".