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On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at [[Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church]] in downtown [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. The church is one of the United States' oldest [[Black church|black churches]]. The senior pastor, the Rev. [[Clementa C. Pinckney]], a [[South Carolina Senate|state senator]], was among the nine people killed.<ref name=CNN-Shooting-2015>{{cite news|last1=Payne|first1=Ed|title=Charleston church shooting: Multiple fatalities in South Carolina, source says|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/17/us/charleston-south-carolina-shooting/|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> In the immediate aftermath, police responded and sought a white male suspect.<ref name=CNN-Shooting-2015 /><ref name=Heavy-Pinckney5Fact-2015>{{cite news|last1=Cleary|first1=Tom|title=Clementa Pinckney Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|url=http://heavy.com/news/2015/06/clementa-pinckney-dead-charleston-church-shooting-victim-black-church-pastor-ame-shot-injury/|accessdate=June 17, 2015|work=[[Heavy.com]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name=NBCNews-Shooting-2015>{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=M. Alex|title='This Was a Hate Crime': Nine People Killed at Historic South Carolina Church|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-people-shot-historic-south-carolina-church-n377436|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[NBC News]]|date=June 17, 2015}}</ref><ref name=PostCourier-NineShot-2015>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=Nine shot, multiple fatalities reported in downtown church shooting|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150617/PC16/150619408|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[The Post and Courier]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> The man was named by authorities as Dylann Roof. Roof was captured Thursday morning in Shelby, North Carolina, WNCN in Raleigh reported. <ref>http://www.wistv.com/story/29351540/charleston-shooting-suspect-from-columbia-area</ref> The incident is being investigated as a [[hate crime]].<ref name=Live5-Shooting-2015>{{cite web|last=Live 5 News Web Staff|first=|url=http://www.live5news.com/story/29347341/police-9-killed-in-downtown-charleston-church-shooting|title=Official: SC Sen. Clementa Pinckney among 9 dead in Charleston church shooting|website=Live5News [[WCSC-TV]]|accessdate=June 18, 2015|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref>
On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at [[Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church]] in downtown [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. The church is one of the United States' oldest [[Black church|black churches]]. The senior pastor, the Rev. [[Clementa C. Pinckney]], a [[South Carolina Senate|state senator]], was among the nine people killed.<ref name=CNN-Shooting-2015>{{cite news|last1=Payne|first1=Ed|title=Charleston church shooting: Multiple fatalities in South Carolina, source says|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/17/us/charleston-south-carolina-shooting/|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> In the immediate aftermath, police responded and sought a white male suspect.<ref name=CNN-Shooting-2015 /><ref name=Heavy-Pinckney5Fact-2015>{{cite news|last1=Cleary|first1=Tom|title=Clementa Pinckney Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|url=http://heavy.com/news/2015/06/clementa-pinckney-dead-charleston-church-shooting-victim-black-church-pastor-ame-shot-injury/|accessdate=June 17, 2015|work=[[Heavy.com]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name=NBCNews-Shooting-2015>{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=M. Alex|title='This Was a Hate Crime': Nine People Killed at Historic South Carolina Church|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-people-shot-historic-south-carolina-church-n377436|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[NBC News]]|date=June 17, 2015}}</ref><ref name=PostCourier-NineShot-2015>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=Nine shot, multiple fatalities reported in downtown church shooting|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150617/PC16/150619408|accessdate=June 18, 2015|work=[[The Post and Courier]]|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> The man was named by authorities as Dylann Roff. Roff was captured Thursday morning in Shelby, North Carolina, WNCN in Raleigh reported. <ref>http://www.wistv.com/story/29351540/charleston-shooting-suspect-from-columbia-area</ref> The incident is being investigated as a [[hate crime]].<ref name=Live5-Shooting-2015>{{cite web|last=Live 5 News Web Staff|first=|url=http://www.live5news.com/story/29347341/police-9-killed-in-downtown-charleston-church-shooting|title=Official: SC Sen. Clementa Pinckney among 9 dead in Charleston church shooting|website=Live5News [[WCSC-TV]]|accessdate=June 18, 2015|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==
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===Shooter===
===Shooter===
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] named Dylann Roof (pronounced "Roff"), 21 of [[Columbia, South Carolina]], as the suspected killer. One image on his [[Facebook]] page shows him in a jacket with the flags of [[Rhodesia]] and [[apartheid]]-era South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/06/18/charleston-suspect-is-dylann-roof.html|title=Everything Known About Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Dylann Roof|work=The Daily Beast|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> US media have reported that Roof was arrested during a traffic stop in [[Shelby, North Carolina]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33190735 Charleston church shooting: Suspected gunman arrested]</ref>
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] named Dylann Roff, 21 of [[Columbia, South Carolina]], as the suspected killer. One image on his [[Facebook]] page shows him in a jacket with the flags of [[Rhodesia]] and [[apartheid]]-era South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/06/18/charleston-suspect-is-dylann-roof.html|title=Everything Known About Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Dylann Roff|work=The Daily Beast|date=June 18, 2015}}</ref> US media have reported that Roff was arrested during a traffic stop in [[Shelby, North Carolina]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33190735 Charleston church shooting: Suspected gunman arrested]</ref>


==Investigation==
==Investigation==

Revision as of 15:59, 18 June 2015

This article is about the mass shooting at Emanuel AME church. For the shooting by a North Charleston police officer, see Shooting of Walter Scott.
2015 Charleston, South Carolina shooting
The steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Church, Charleston
The steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Charleston church shooting is located in South Carolina
Charleston church shooting
Charleston church shooting (South Carolina)
Charleston, South Carolina
LocationCharleston, South Carolina
Coordinates32°47′14″N 79°55′59″W / 32.78722°N 79.93306°W / 32.78722; -79.93306
DateJune 17, 2015 (2015-06-17)
c. 9:05 p.m. (Eastern Time Zone)
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths9[1]
Injured1[2]

On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The church is one of the United States' oldest black churches. The senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a state senator, was among the nine people killed.[3] In the immediate aftermath, police responded and sought a white male suspect.[3][4][5][6] The man was named by authorities as Dylann Roff. Roff was captured Thursday morning in Shelby, North Carolina, WNCN in Raleigh reported. [7] The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.[8]

Background

The 150-year-old church played an important role in the state's history, including the slavery era and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1816 and is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel".[3][9] It is the oldest historically black congregation south of Baltimore. Denmark Vesey, executed for attempting to organize a slave rebellion, was one of the founders.[6] The attack occurred on the 193rd anniversary of the thwarted slave revolt.

The shooting recalled the 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, when Klu Klux Klan terrorists killed four black girls and injured 14 and galvanized the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney had held rallies after the police shooting of Walter Scott in April, and as a state senator pushed for legislation requiring law enforcement officials to wear body cameras.[4] The Walter Scott shooting was part of a string of national coverage of the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

Details

At around 9:05 p.m. EDT on June 17, 2015, the Charleston Police Department responded to calls of a shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. church.[6] A man described as white, with sandy-blond hair, around 21 years old and 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) in height, wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans, opened fire on the church during a Bible study attended by Senator Pinckney and then fled.[10][11] A five-year-old child attending the study survived the shooting by pretending to be dead.[12] For nearly an hour prior to the attack, the shooter participated and stayed at the Bible study.[13]

Several hours later, a bomb threat was called into the Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Calhoun Street, complicating the investigation and prompting an evacuation of the immediate area.[6][14] It was reported that the shooter spared one woman so she could tell other people about the shooting, though this was unconfirmed.[15]

Victims

The victims consisted of six women and three men, all of them black. Eight of the victims died at the scene, while the ninth was taken to a hospital and died there. The Rev. Pinckney, senior pastor of the Emanuel A.M.E. church and also a state senator, was among the dead.[11][15] One other person was wounded in the shooting and is currently receiving treatment.[2]

Shooter

The Federal Bureau of Investigation named Dylann Roff, 21 of Columbia, South Carolina, as the suspected killer. One image on his Facebook page shows him in a jacket with the flags of Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa.[16] US media have reported that Roff was arrested during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina.[17]

Investigation

A man matching the description of the attacker was initially detained outside a nearby convenience store but was released after police determined he was not the perpetrator.[6] The attack was treated as a hate crime by police, and officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were called in to assist in the investigation and manhunt.[11]

Reactions

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley released a statement regarding the attack, saying, "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. Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."[18] Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. denounced the attack and said, "Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a horrible hateful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained. We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family."

Cornell William Brooks, the current president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said in a statement, "There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture."[13]

Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, campaigned earlier that day in Charleston prior to the shooting. She attended a fundraiser at a home less than half a mile (800 m) away and left before the shooting occurred. Pinckney was at the Clinton fundraiser earlier in the day. "Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all," Clinton posted on Twitter.[19][5][20]

The 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush postponed campaign events in Charleston scheduled for June 18. A Bush spokesperson said, "Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy".[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Bever, Lindsey; Costa, Robert (June 17, 2015). "9 dead in shooting at historic Charleston African American church. Police chief calls it 'hate crime.'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2015. Cite error: The named reference "WashingtonPost-Shooting-2015" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Charleston church shooting: First picture of 'gunman' on the run after nine people shot dead". Daily Mirror. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Payne, Ed (June 18, 2015). "Charleston church shooting: Multiple fatalities in South Carolina, source says". CNN. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Cleary, Tom (June 18, 2015). "Clementa Pinckney Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, M. Alex (June 17, 2015). "'This Was a Hate Crime': Nine People Killed at Historic South Carolina Church". NBC News. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e Staff (June 18, 2015). "Nine shot, multiple fatalities reported in downtown church shooting". The Post and Courier. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  7. ^ http://www.wistv.com/story/29351540/charleston-shooting-suspect-from-columbia-area
  8. ^ Live 5 News Web Staff (June 18, 2015). "Official: SC Sen. Clementa Pinckney among 9 dead in Charleston church shooting". Live5News WCSC-TV. Retrieved June 18, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Pinckney, Reverend Honorable Clementa C. (February 20, 2015). "Civil Rights Ride 2013 – Clementa C. Pinckney, SC Senate, Pastor Mother Emanuel A.M.E." Mullikin Law Firm. Retrieved June 18, 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ McLeod, Harriet (June 17, 2015). "Gunman at large after killing nine at black South Carolina church". Yahoo! News. Reuters. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c "Everything We Know About the Charleston Shooting". TIME. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  12. ^ "Charleston shooting: Five-year-old child who 'played dead' among survivors in South Carolina". The Independent. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Pastor, 8 others, fatally shot at church in Charleston, SC". MSN. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  14. ^ "Charleston church shooting: police release image of suspect - latest updates". Guardian. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Who is the Charleston church shooting suspect?". CNN. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  16. ^ "Everything Known About Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Dylann Roff". The Daily Beast. June 18, 2015.
  17. ^ Charleston church shooting: Suspected gunman arrested
  18. ^ "9 people killed in shooting at black church in Charleston, S.C." CBC. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  19. ^ "Update: 6 females, 3 males were killed at church (+ video)". The State. June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  20. ^ Horowitz, Jason; Corasaniti, Nick; Southall, Ashley (June 18, 2015). "Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church in Charleston". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
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