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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting.html
CHARLESTON, S.C. — An intense manhunt was under way Thursday for a white gunman who opened fire on Wednesday night at a historic black church in this city’s downtown, killing nine people before fleeing.
The police chief, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime.
Chief Mullen said that law enforcement officials, including the F.B.I. and other federal agencies, were assisting in the investigation of a shooting that left six women and three men dead.
The police said the gunman walked into the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church around 9 p.m. and began shooting. Among the dead, according to reports, was the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator.
Eight people died at the scene, Chief Mullen said. One person taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, and died on the way.
“This is clearly a tragedy in the city of Charleston,” Chief Mullen said.
“The is a situation that is unacceptable in any society, especially in our society and our city,” Chief Mullen said at an early morning news conference. “We are leaving no stone unturned.”
City officials did not release information about the victims and did not say how many people were in the church during the shooting. Hospital officials declined to comment.
At an early morning news conference on Thursday, the police released pictures from surveillance footage of the man who is believed to be the gunman, and the police said he had been seen leaving the church in a black, four-door sedan that was also captured on video.
The Rev. Pinckney, who was also a state senator, and his sister were among those killed, said J. Todd Rutherford, the minority leader of the State House of Representatives.
Mr. Rutherford, who has served in the State Legislature with Mr. Pinckney, 41, since 1998, recalled him as a tireless leader with a booming voice and a mission to serve.
“He was called to the ministry when he was 13, ordained at 18, elected to the House at 23 and the Senate at 27,” Mr. Rutherford said. “He was a man driven by public service.”
Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the city was offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, whom the police described as a cleanshaven white man about 21 years old with sandy blond hair and wearing a gray sweatshirt, bluejeans and Timberland boots.
“To walk into a church and shoot someone is out of pure hatred,” the mayor said as he walked away after the news conference.
In a statement, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., Cornell William Brook, said, “There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture.”
Law enforcement officers from the F.B.I.; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; and other agencies were assisting. Chief Mullen said the police were tracking the gunman with police dogs.
Around 10:45 p.m., police officers escorted a man in handcuffs who appeared to match the attacker’s description. But officials said later that they were still searching for the gunman.
In the first hours after the shooting, the police blocked reporters and passers-by from approaching the church, opposite a Marriott Courtyard hotel, because of a bomb threat. Many among the news media cluster were political reporters in town to cover campaign events of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush.
Helicopters with searchlights circled overhead, and a group of pastors knelt and prayed across the street.
“The question is, ‘Why God?’ ” a man wearing a shirt bearing the name of the Empowerment Missionary Baptist Church said during the prayer.
Later, a group of church leaders gathered at the corner of Calhoun and King Streets, a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, and held an impromptu news conference. Tory Fields, a member of the Charleston County Ministers Conference, said he believed the attacker had targeted the victims because of their race.
“It’s obvious that it’s race,” he said. “What else could it be? You’ve got a white guy going into an African-American church. That’s choice. He chose to go into that church and harm those people. That’s choice.”
The church is one of the nation’s oldest black congregations. The Gothic Revival building dates from 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
The congregation was formed by black members of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church who broke away “over disputed burial ground,” according to the website of the National Park Service.
In 1822, one of the church’s co-founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to foment a slave rebellion in Charleston, the church’s website says. The plot was foiled by the authorities and 35 people were executed, including Mr. Vesey.
The church houses the oldest black congregation south of Baltimore, the National Park Service said.
Gov. Nikki R. Haley said in a statement that she and her family were praying for the victims.
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“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,” the governor said. “Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers.”
Late Wednesday, the campaign staff of Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, said he was canceling appearances planned for Thursday in Charleston because of the shooting. Mrs. Clinton was in Charleston on Wednesday, but an aide said she had left the city before the shooting.
Bakari Sellers, a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, said he was still at a fund-raiser Mrs. Clinton had attended in the early evening when he heard about the shooting only blocks away. He said the mood among the attendees, several of whom knew the church and its pastor well, quickly turned from hope to “darkness and despair.”
CHARLESTON, S.C. — An intense manhunt was under way Thursday for a white gunman who opened fire on Wednesday night at a historic black church in this city’s downtown, killing nine people before fleeing.
The police chief, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime.
Chief Mullen said that law enforcement officials, including the F.B.I. and other federal agencies, were assisting in the investigation of a shooting that left six women and three men dead.
The police said the gunman walked into the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church around 9 p.m. and began shooting. Among the dead, according to reports, was the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator.
Eight people died at the scene, Chief Mullen said. One person taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, and died on the way.
“This is clearly a tragedy in the city of Charleston,” Chief Mullen said.
“The is a situation that is unacceptable in any society, especially in our society and our city,” Chief Mullen said at an early morning news conference. “We are leaving no stone unturned.”
City officials did not release information about the victims and did not say how many people were in the church during the shooting. Hospital officials declined to comment.
At an early morning news conference on Thursday, the police released pictures from surveillance footage of the man who is believed to be the gunman, and the police said he had been seen leaving the church in a black, four-door sedan that was also captured on video.
The Rev. Pinckney, who was also a state senator, and his sister were among those killed, said J. Todd Rutherford, the minority leader of the State House of Representatives.
Mr. Rutherford, who has served in the State Legislature with Mr. Pinckney, 41, since 1998, recalled him as a tireless leader with a booming voice and a mission to serve.
“He was called to the ministry when he was 13, ordained at 18, elected to the House at 23 and the Senate at 27,” Mr. Rutherford said. “He was a man driven by public service.”
Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the city was offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, whom the police described as a cleanshaven white man about 21 years old with sandy blond hair and wearing a gray sweatshirt, bluejeans and Timberland boots.
“To walk into a church and shoot someone is out of pure hatred,” the mayor said as he walked away after the news conference.
In a statement, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., Cornell William Brook, said, “There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture.”
Law enforcement officers from the F.B.I.; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; and other agencies were assisting. Chief Mullen said the police were tracking the gunman with police dogs.
Around 10:45 p.m., police officers escorted a man in handcuffs who appeared to match the attacker’s description. But officials said later that they were still searching for the gunman.
In the first hours after the shooting, the police blocked reporters and passers-by from approaching the church, opposite a Marriott Courtyard hotel, because of a bomb threat. Many among the news media cluster were political reporters in town to cover campaign events of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush.
Helicopters with searchlights circled overhead, and a group of pastors knelt and prayed across the street.
“The question is, ‘Why God?’ ” a man wearing a shirt bearing the name of the Empowerment Missionary Baptist Church said during the prayer.
Later, a group of church leaders gathered at the corner of Calhoun and King Streets, a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, and held an impromptu news conference. Tory Fields, a member of the Charleston County Ministers Conference, said he believed the attacker had targeted the victims because of their race.
“It’s obvious that it’s race,” he said. “What else could it be? You’ve got a white guy going into an African-American church. That’s choice. He chose to go into that church and harm those people. That’s choice.”
The church is one of the nation’s oldest black congregations. The Gothic Revival building dates from 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
The congregation was formed by black members of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church who broke away “over disputed burial ground,” according to the website of the National Park Service.
In 1822, one of the church’s co-founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to foment a slave rebellion in Charleston, the church’s website says. The plot was foiled by the authorities and 35 people were executed, including Mr. Vesey.
The church houses the oldest black congregation south of Baltimore, the National Park Service said.
Gov. Nikki R. Haley said in a statement that she and her family were praying for the victims.
CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY1COMMENT
“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,” the governor said. “Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers.”
Late Wednesday, the campaign staff of Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, said he was canceling appearances planned for Thursday in Charleston because of the shooting. Mrs. Clinton was in Charleston on Wednesday, but an aide said she had left the city before the shooting.
Bakari Sellers, a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, said he was still at a fund-raiser Mrs. Clinton had attended in the early evening when he heard about the shooting only blocks away. He said the mood among the attendees, several of whom knew the church and its pastor well, quickly turned from hope to “darkness and despair.”
