News Digest

‘Unspeakable’: Police hunt for gunman after 9 killed in attack during prayer service

The FBI has joined Charleston police in the investigation and hunt for a gunman, described as a white male in his early 20s, who killed nine people during a prayer service at a historic African-American church in Charleston, S.C. The shooting, described as a hate crime, happened at the historic Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South. Police said eight people had died at the scene and a ninth victim died later in hospital Another person is being treated in hospital. Among the dead are the church pastor, Clementa Pinckney, who also is a South Carolina state senator.

This is an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in this most historic church. An evil and hateful person took the lives of citizens who had come to worship and pray together.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley

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 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. State Sen. Pinckney was a sponsor of that bill.

This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. 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.

Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen