The man suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA have been arrested.
Mayor of Charleston city, Joseph P. Riley announced the arrest of the suspect, Dylann Storm, Roof, 21. Media reports say he was arrested some 200 miles away, in Shelby, North Carolina, a town east of Charlotte.
The police said Mr. Roof, of the Columbia area, a white gunman who walked into a prayer meeting, sat down with black parishioners for nearly an hour, and then opened fire — a burst of violence that officials described as racially motivated.
US media say the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the F.B.I., and the United States Attorney’s Office for South Carolina have commenced a hate crime investigation into the shooting, parallel to the state and local investigation.
Charleston’s police chief, Greg Mullen has described the shooting, which left six women and three men dead, a hate crime.
