Police, beefed up by additional FBI agents flown in from Washington, appealed to the public Thursday for tips on the whereabouts of a lone white gunman who opened fire on a Bible study group in a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including a pastor.
"This is an all-hands-on-deck effort with the community as well as law enforcement," Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said. "When people go out they should be vigilant, they should be aware of their surroundings. And if they see anything suspicious, they should call law enforcement."
"No one in this community will forget this night," said Mullen, who called the killings at the Emanuel AME church a "hate crime."
In Washington, the Justice Department said its Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina are opening a hate crime investigation into the shooting.
The nine victims — three men and six women — included pastor, Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a South Carolina state senator, State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press.
Authorities said the gunman spent about an hour inside the church, mingling with the Wednesday night Bible study group before opening fire. Eight of the victims died at the church and the ninth died at a hospital. Three people survived, police said.
Sylvia Johnson, a cousin of Pinckney, the pastor, said one of the survivors told her that the gunman reloaded five times during the ordeal.
At point, as he was reloading, members of the group tried to get him to stop, Johnson told WIS News.
"He just said 'I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go," Johnson said.
Dot Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP, said the gunman apparently allowed one woman to live so that she could tell others what happened inside the church.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley called the killings "the most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy."
"The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," Riley said. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person."
Police issued photos of the suspect and his apparent getaway car, a four-door, black sedan.
The gunman, called "armed and dangerous," was described as a white male in his early 20s, with sandy blond hair. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with a yellow symbol on his left side.
The photo of the suspect, taken by a surveillance camera, indicated that he is about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and sported a distinctive bowl-like haircut, possibly a wig.
The church is a historic African-American church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church.
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."
Pinckney, the 41-year-old pastor, 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.
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