CHARLESTON, S.C. — Dylann Roof, who police say opened fire and killed nine people during a prayer service at a historic African American church here, has been arrested.
Roof, a 21-year-old from Eastover, S.C., was taken into custody Thursday morning, not long after law enforcement officials identified him as the sole suspect in the Wednesday night massacre, the deadliest attack on a place of worship in the United States in 24 years.
The oldest victim was 87; the youngest was 26. They included a library manager, a track and field coach and a state senator, Clementa Pinckney, who also served as senior pastor at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the shooting occurred.
Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said Roof was arrested during a traffic stop in Shelby, N.C., just after 11 a.m., roughly 14 hours after officers responded to the shooting at at Emanuel AME. Mullen said Roof “was cooperative with the officer who stopped him” in Shelby, about 250 miles by road northwest of Charleston.
Thank You for posting this. All people of every race need to come together and decry what has been done to our Black Christian brothers and sisters in Charleston, South Carolina. I even agree what the national leader of the NAACP said – that the Confederate flag needs to come down in S. Carolina and elsewhere where it flies in public places. Time is long past to dismantle racism in all of it’s hideous forms. Jesus is the eternal equalizer of all mankind.
So true Mrs. CJB – thank you for your insightful comment.
Greg