BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY WHY DO THEY HATE US SO MUCH ?
9 dead in ‘hate crime’ shooting at prayer meeting at historic Charleston African American church.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. — Police widened the search Thursday for a gunman who opened fire and killed nine people during a prayer service at a historic African American church in downtown Charleston, S.C., in one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the United States in recent memory.
At least one other person was injured in the Wednesday night assault.
“We believe this is a hate crime. That is how we are investigating it,” said Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen in a dawn news conference.
Police have expanded a manhunt for the suspect, described as a clean-shaven white male in his early 20s, who has sandy blond hair and a small build. Police said he was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and Timberland boots. He is believed to be the only shooter. Officers in fatigues, some with K-9 dogs, said they were searching “near and far” for the gunman and pursuing “lots of tips.”
At a nearby Embassy Suites, which was serving as an informal headquarters for church members, people began sobbing and screaming as they learned details about what had happened.
“We just left speaking to members of the families,” Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley (D) said at the news conference. “It was a heartbreaking scene I have never witnessed in my life before.”
Though authorities did not release the names of the victims, the church’s pastor, Clementa Pinckney, who is also a South Carolina state senator, was missing after the shooting and some members of the congregation feared the worst. Indeed, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said Pinckney was among the dead, and friends started posting “RIP” condolences on social media.
“Rest in peace my friend Sen. Rev. Clementa Pinckney,” Rep. Samuel Rivers Jr., wrote on Twitter. “When the name of the church dawned on me I tried calling Clementa.”
“Rest in peace to my friend and brother in public service, Senator Clementa Pinckney,” Former state Rep. Anton J. Gunn wrote.
Police said the victims had gathered Wednesday night in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as “Mother Emanuel” church, in downtown Charleston for a prayer meeting when the shooting occurred. The congregation, established in 1816, is one of the oldest African American churches in the United States.
“This is the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in historic Emanuel AME church, the mother church of the AME churches,” Riley said. “People in prayer Wednesday evening, a ritual coming together, praying and worshiping God. To have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable. Obviously the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible.”
“The only reason someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate,” he added. “The only reason. It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine.”
Police said the shooting occurred about 9 p.m. at the church, which is located between Henrietta and Calhoun streets near Marion Square in downtown Charleston. The Rev. Norvel Goff, a presiding elder for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who was interviewed near the scene, said the suspect “walked in, from my understanding, not so much as a participant, but as a brief observer who then stood up and then started shooting.”
When officers arrived, they determined that eight people had been killed inside the church, Mullen said. Two others were taken to a nearby hospital, where the ninth died, he said. Police said there were survivors but did not elaborate on their condition.
“It’s a very tragic situation. Stressful. Grieving,” Goff said.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) said in a statement late Wednesday night that she is praying 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. “Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers.”
After the shooting, helicopters swarmed overhead and heavily armed police wearing bullet-proof vests moved out across the city to search for the suspect.
“This was a very chaotic scene when we arrived,” Mullen said. “We were tracking this individual with canines. We were making sure that he was not in the area to commit other crimes. As all this was going on, we received information that there might be a secondary explosive device in the scene.”
Taxi driver Sheila Seagers, 60, heard the news on the radio and parked her Lincoln Town Car blocks from the scene. She stayed for hours, lingering and chatting quietly with friends. She called her state of mind a “ball of confusion.”
“I keep thinking of that big, beautiful church,” she said.
“We don’t want trouble but we keeping getting trouble,” she added. “I hate to say it, but what’s next? I pray that when morning comes there will be peace.”
Crisis chaplains rushed to the scene as people started creating prayers circles to pray for the victims and their families.
“I had to come, couldn’t sit home and watch my community on television,” said 59-year-old Ken Battle, a retired member of the U.S. Air Force. “But I can’t make up my mind about what has happened here. Being here helps me make meaning out of it.”
Johnny Brooks, 54, a retired electric worker, came with his wife. “Our backyard! Our city,” he said. “I am at a loss for words.”
Mullen said authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Local law enforcement has joined forces with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track down leads. Mullen said police will soon announce a reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture.
“We will continue to do that until we find this individual who has carried out this crime tonight and bring him to justice,” he said.
“This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience,” Mullen said. “It is senseless. It is unfathomable that somebody in today’s society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives.”
A prayer vigil will be held at noon at Morris Brown AME church in Charleston.
Robert Costa reported from Charleston.
