White gunman attacks black church, kills 9

The 21-year-old white man suspected of shooting dead nine people at a historic black church in the southeastern US city of Charleston has been captured, as federal authorities opened a hate crimes probe.Dylann Roof, identified as the suspect, was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about a four-hour drive from the scene of the mass shooting, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen announced. Churchgoers had gathered for a prayer meeting in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday evening in Charleston, South Carolina when the shooter walked in, sat in the congregation for about an hour, then opened fire, Mullen said earlier. Roof is from an area near Columbia, the South Carolina state capital, the Post and Courier newspaper reported. 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 part of Zimbabwe. The latest mass shooting came at a time of heightened racial tensions in the US, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police led to riots and a national debate on race. Three men and six women were killed in the attack and several other people were wounded. "At this point, we have nine victims in this hideous crime," Mullen told journalists. "I do believe it was a hate crime." Among the dead was the church's pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was also a South Carolina state senator, fellow politician Marlon Kimpson told US media. Officers also investigated a possible bomb threat after the shooting, but several hours later gave the all-clear. A Justice Department spokesperson said a hate crimes probe had been opened, with FBI agents working in tandem in with local police. Charleston is known locally as "The Holy City," due to its large number of churches and historical mix of immigrant ethnic groups that brought a variety of creeds to the city on the Atlantic coast. "This is the most unspeakable and heart-breaking tragedy," Mayor Joseph Riley said. According to its website, the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1816, is the oldest such church in the southern US. Because of the shooting, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush canceled campaign events that had been planned for Thursday in Charleston. "Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his campaign said in a statement. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who had been in Charleston earlier Wednesday, tweeted her condolences. "Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all," she wrote.