Journalism of Courage
A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime. The shooter remained at large Thursday morning. (Source: AP)
The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area. (Source: AP)
Images on a flier provided to media, Thursday, June 18, 2015, by the Charleston Police Department show surveillance footage of a suspect wanted in connection with a shooting Wednesday at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. (Source: Charleston Police Department via AP)
The Emmanuel AME church is a historic African-American church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston's Methodist Episcopal church. (Source: AP)
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen speaks during a news conference. Police Chief Greg Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime, and police were looking for a white male in his early 20s. (Source: AP)
The suspect attended the meeting at the church Wednesday night and stayed for nearly an hour before the deaths, Police Chief Greg Mullen said.
The victims were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details and said names would be released after families were notified. (Source: AP)
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. called the shooting "an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind." "Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a horrible hateful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained," Riley said. "We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family." (Source: AP)
Todd Rutherford, a state legislator, told The Associated Press that the Emanuel AME Church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was among those killed. Pinckney, 41, was a married father of two who was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives at age 23, making him the youngest member of the House at the time. (Source: AP file photo)
State Senator Clementa Pinckney, right, talks to a supporter during a break in a hearing protesting his re-election in Columbia, S.C. (Source: AP file photo)
