Nine people were shot, some fatally, inside
one of Charleston’s oldest and most well known
black churches in South Carolina, US.
A bomb threat complicated the investigation and prompted police to ask nearby
residents to evacuate.
Reporters and other onlookers huddled at the
scene awaiting details on what could prove to be one of the worst mass
shootings in South Carolina
history.
Authorities said
the shooting took place at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
downtown at approximately 9 p.m. local time. Calhoun St. Police were seen
exiting the 19th century church, and their presence extended blocks beyond the
site.
Mayor Joe Riley confirmed there were
fatalities.
“We’re still
gathering information so it’s not the time yet for details,” he said. “I will
say that this is an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in this most historic
church, an evil and hateful person took the lives of citizens who had come to
worship and pray together.”
Riley said city
police were being assisted by sheriff’s deputies, the State Law Enforcement
Division and the FBI.
Police and emergency vehicles swarmed several
blocks surrounding Henrietta and Calhoun streets, just east of Marion Square.
Barricades blocked off several streets to traffic, and police asked nearby
residents to leave their homes.
Police were still
looking for the gunman late Wednesday, and helicopters are hovering above.
Police spokesman Charles Francis described the suspect as a 21-year-old white
male in a gray sweatshirt/hoodie and jeans with Timberland boots. He has a
slender build.
There are victims
involved, but police have not said how many. No deaths have yet been reported.
A chaplain is on the scene.
State Sen. Marlon
Kimpson, D-Charleston, said he has been talking with Charleston County Sheriff
Al Cannon and said, “It’s my understanding that there are some very serious
injuries and possibly deaths.”
Kimpson is the
Democratic colleague of Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who is the church’s pastor and
was believed to be inside during the shooting. Kimpson said he is praying for
Pinckney and for “our Mother Emanuel AME church,” as it’s affectionately called
by many parishioners. It is the South’s oldest black congregation south of Baltimore.
Police in South Carolina
say that a gunman is still at large after a shooting at a church in Charleston. Police described the suspect as a white man of approximately 21 years of age with a small or slender build. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with blue jeans and Timberland boots, and was clean shaven.
The Post and Courier reported that a man matching the suspect's description was briefly detained near the shooting scene, but was later let go by police. The man, identified as 21-year-old David Corrie, said he was walking out of the station's store when police forced him to get down on the ground and handcuffed him.
The pastor of the church is Clementa Pinckney, a member of the South Carolina state Senate. It was not immediately clear if he was in the church at the time of the shooting. The church is a historic African-American church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church. One of its founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. He was caught, and white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War.
-- Agencies
