Fast facts:
- 9 people were killed in the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina Wednesday night
- The suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, was arrested Thursday in Shelby, North Carolina
- Pres. Obama: "Something particularly heartbreaking" about Charleston massacre occurring in a place of worship
- This shooting marks the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 12 were killed inside the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013
CHARLESTON, S.C. — ----------------------------
Authorities in North Carolina say the suspect in a deadly mass shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church has been taken into custody.
Nine people were killed when a man opened fire at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday.
Police say the shooting happened around 8 p.m. at Emanuel AME Church. The victims include the church's pastor, Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
Charleston police chief Greg Mullen said eight people were found dead inside the church. Two other people were rushed to the hospital and one died, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 12 were killed inside the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013.
"It is senseless," Mullen said at a press conference this evening. "It is unfathomable that somebody would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
>> PHOTOS: Mass shooting at AME church in Charleston, S.C.
Dylann Roof, 21, was captured in Shelby, North Carolina before noon Thursday. Roof put up no resistance after a citizen tip led police to his car, Mullen said.
Both Mullen and Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said they believed it was a hate crime.
Shortly after the end of a vigil for the Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina mourners and journalists were evacuated from Morris Brown AME Church.
A state lawmaker told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he was told a bomb threat was the reason for the evacuation.
Police moved the crowd away from Morris Brown AME Church. Fire trucks and police vehicles have surrounded the building.
Police gave the all clear and allowed people to re-enter Morris Brown AME Church.
Officials react to the deadly shooting
President Obama says the U.S. has to "reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence doesn't happen in other advanced countries."
"Acts like this one have no place in our country," said Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who announced a Justice Department hate crime investigation. "They have no place in a civilized society."
The NAACP expressed its condolences for the families of the victims.
"The NAACP was founded to fight against racial hatred and we are outraged that 106 years later, we are faced today with another mass hate crime," said the group's president Cornell William Brooks. "There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture."
"The only reason someone would walk into church and shoot people praying is hate," Mayor Joe Riley said.
The mayor said that he met with some of the families and described it as the "most heart-breaking scene I have ever witnessed."
"People were coming together praying, and an awful person coming in and shooting was the most awful and inexplicable act possible," he added.
The man sat with them for about an hour. In their church, while they worshiped God and prayed, he was there. And no one...
Posted by Jovita Moore on Thursday, June 18, 2015
About the victims
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed. Pinckney, 41, was a married father of two who was elected to the state House at 23, making him the youngest member of the House at the time.
"He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should," State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told The Associated Press. "He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody."
MORE: Victims identified in Charleston shooting
Roof's childhood friend, Joey Meek, alerted the FBI after recognizing him in a surveillance camera image that was widely circulated, said Meek's mother, Kimberly Kozny. Roof had worn the same sweatshirt while playing Xbox videogames in their home recently.
"I don't know what was going through his head," Kozny said. "He was a really sweet kid. He was quiet. He only had a few friends."
Local residents react to the news
Visitors to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center said they were shocked to hear the news of the shooting.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was just really surprised because I had no idea that happened last night. We just came out here to see the King Center and got that news, we were just like, ‘wow.’ We just hope things can get better,” said King Center visitor Alex Trent.
“I think it’s really sad, it’s devastating. And it’s sad that we still live in a time where there’s a risk for just standing up for what you believe. And there’s also more pressure than ever for people to unite and stand up against things like this,” said King Center visitor Belle Bynoe.
About the historic church
The house of worship has played a role in the civil rights movement. Coretta Scott King led an estimated group of 1,500 demonstrators there during a protest in 1969 and they faced down national guardsmen, according to historic reports of the incident.
This particular congregation, which formed in 1816, has its own grim history: A founder, Denmark Vesey, was hanged after trying to organize a slave revolt in 1822, and white landowners burned the church down in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War.
That's what I'm asking this morning. Why? I'm AME. My family has been for generations. My husband's family has been as...
Posted by Erin Coleman Wsb-Tv on Thursday, June 18, 2015
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