Charleston Police Dept.Police have now apprehended the man who shot and killed nine people in Charleston, S.C., last night in what police are calling a "hate crime."
NBC News reports that Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white man from Lexington, S.C., who opened fire inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday evening, was caught Thursday morning in Shelby, N.C.
"I can confirm there is a suspect in custody," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, providing no further details.
Surveillance video photographs of the gunman, as well as images of a black sedan he may have used to get away, were previously released to the public.
The suspect killed six women and three men at the historically African-American church. Police say he joined a prayer meeting and was present for nearly an hour before he opened fired. Three people survived the massacre. "I do believe this was a hate crime," said Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen.
According to sources at NBC News, victims include the church's pastor, Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a Democratic member of the state senate and married father of two.
Federal officials are opening an investigation into the hate crime. According to a Justice Department spokesman, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina are investigating the shooting.
"Even as we struggle to comprehend this heartbreaking event, I want everyone in Charleston and everyone affected by this tragedy that we will do everything in our power to heal this community and make it whole again," Lynch said.