Police Has Apprehended The Charleston Church Shooter, He Happens To Be A Fan Of Apartheid In South Africa. Bizarre!

The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions.

The suspect -- identified as Dylann Roof of Columbia, South Carolina -- was taken into custody in neighboring North Carolina, about a four-hour drive from the scene of the shooting, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.


"I do believe it was a hate crime," Mullen said.

Detectives were headed to Shelby, North Carolina -- where Roof was apprehended during a traffic stop -- to interview the suspect and gather evidence, he told reporters.

Churchgoers had gathered Wednesday evening when the shooter walked into the building, sat in the congregation for about an hour and then opened fire, Mullen said.

Three men and six women were killed, and several other people were wounded. Among the dead was the church's pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was also a Democratic state senator.

Roof -- a slender white man with dark blond or brown hair in a distinctive bowl-type haircut and wearing a grey sweater -- had been described by police as "extremely dangerous."

A picture on Roof's Facebook page showed him wearing a black jacket with patches of the apartheid-era South African flag and the flag of white-ruled Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe.

The shooting comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in America, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in recent months led to protests and a national debate on race.

President Barack Obama was due to make a statement about the shooting.

A Justice Department spokesperson said a hate crimes probe had been opened, with FBI agents working in tandem in with local police.

"The heart and soul of South Carolina was broken," a tearful state Governor Nikki Haley said.

Jim Curley, owner of AC's Bar & Grill, which is located a few blocks from the church, said locals were shocked anyone would carry out an attack in the popular tourist area.

"This is absolutely bizarre," Curley told AFP. "This is really completely out of the blue... We have no idea what the motivation is."

-Timeslive