Worshippers embrace following a group prayer across the street from the scene of a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 This image has been provided by the Charleston Police Department, Thursday, June 18, 2015. A man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., Wednesday... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 The steeple of Emanuel AME Church is visible as police close off a section of Calhoun Street early Thursday, June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Worshippers gather to pray down the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police close off a section of Calhoun Street near the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen says the suspect in a shooting that killed nine people was at a historic black church attending a meeting and stayed for almost an hour before gunfire erupted. 
 
 Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen gave the details at a Thursday morning news conference. He didn't elaborate. At the news conference, he also identified the victims of the Wednesday church night shooting as six females and three males. He says names won't be released until families are notified. 
 
 The suspect is described as a white man thought to be in his early 20s. Mullen says the suspect is a "very dangerous individual." 
 
 Earlier, Mullen said he had no reason to think the suspect has left the Charleston area, but is distributing information about him and the vehicle around the country. 
 
 7:05 a.m. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen says the victims of a shooting at a historic black church were six females and three males. 
 
 At a news conference Thursday, Mullen did not give other details about the victims. He says names will not be released until families are notified. 
 
 The Wednesday night shooting is being called a hate crime. The suspect is described as a white man thought to be in his early 20s. Mullen says the suspect is a "very dangerous individual." Mullen urged people to call police about the suspect and not pursue him or his vehicle on their own. 
 
 Earlier, Mullen said he had no reason to think the suspect has left the Charleston area, but is distributing information about the suspect and the vehicle around the country. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:10 a.m. 
 
 Police say they have surveillance video of a possible suspect and vehicle in the shooting deaths of nine people at a historic black church in downtown Charleston that's being called a hate crime. 
 
 Police Chief Greg Mullen met with reporters early Thursday to distribute the video. Mullen said he couldn't give a specific make and model of the vehicle because they could not be certain from the video. 
 
 The suspect is described as a white man thought to be in his early 20s. Mullen said he had no reason to think the suspect has left the Charleston area, but is distributing information about the suspect and the vehicle around the country. 
 
 Mullen said police consider the shooting a hate crime. The FBI and state police are helping in the search. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:35 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen says the FBI will be involved in the investigation of a shooting at a historic black church that killed nine and is being called a hate crime. 
 
 Mullen said the FBI would aid the investigation while speaking at a news conference that was also attended by FBI Special Agent in Charge David A. Thomas. 
 
 House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says that among those killed at Emanuel AME Church was the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney. 
 
 Authorities are still searching for the shooter, who's described as a white male in his early 20s. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 A South Carolina legislative leader says the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, is among those killed in a shooting at a historic black church in downtown Charleston that authorities are calling a hate crime. 
 
 House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says Pinckney was killed along with eight others in the Wednesday night shooting at Emanuel AME Church. 
 
 Authorities are still searching for the shooter, who's described as a white male in his early 20s. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 Charleston police say nine people have been killed in a shooting at a historic black church in what authorities intend to investigate as a hate crime. 
 
 Police Chief Greg Mullen says eight people were found dead Wednesday at Emanuel AME Church and another person died later at the hospital. 
 
 Mullen says a prayer meeting was going on at the church at the time of the shooting. 
 
 The shooter, described as a white male, was not yet in custody. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:45 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 Mayor Joseph P. Riley has confirmed to The Associated Press that police have told him nine are dead in a shooting at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
 Riley said he will release more details shortly at a news conference with Charleston police. 
 
 Police were still looking for the suspect in the Wednesday night shooting at Emanuel AME Church. 
 
 __ 
 
 12:30 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has responded to the shooting in downtown Charleston. 
 
 "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," she said in a statement early Thursday morning. 
 
 Police were still searching for a white male suspect. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:09 a.m. (EDT) 
 
 The Post and Courier newspaper reports that Mayor Joe Riley has confirmed there are fatalities in a shooting that occurred at the site of a church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
 Riley called the Wednesday night shooting "an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy." 
 
 An Associated Press reporter on the scene said police were moving members of the media on the site back because of an "imminent" threat. 
 
 GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has canceled Thursday events in the area because of the shooting. ||||| CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — 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 was still at large. 
 
 Worshippers gather to pray in a hotel parking lot across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police close off a section of Calhoun Street near the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Worshippers embrace following a group prayer across the street from the scene of a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 A police officer uses a flashlight while searching the area following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police talk to a man outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police walk down the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 A distraught man is comforted as a group of concerned people arrive inquiring about a shooting across the street Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police talk to a man outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 An armed police officer moves up Calhoun Street following a shooting in Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, June 17, 2015. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 An FBI agent walks across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Worshippers gather to pray in a hotel parking lot across the street from the scene of a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (Wade Spees/The Post And Courier via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 A man looks on as a group of people arrive inquiring about a shooting across the street Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
 
 The shooting took place at the Emanuel AME Church, Police Chief Greg Mullen said. He said there were survivors, but would not say how many, or how many were inside at the time of the shooting. He also would not confirm whether the pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was one of the victims. 
 
 Mullen described the suspect as a white male in his early 20s. He said he believed it was a hate crime, but would not elaborate. 
 
 "The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley. "It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person." 
 
 As police and the city's mayor updated the news media, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street. 
 
 Police moved members of the news media back away from the site due to what they called an "imminent" threat. They did not release any details. 
 
 The campaign of GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush sent out an email saying that due to the shooting, the candidate had canceled an event planned in the city Thursday. 
 
 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. 
 
 One of its founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. He was caught, and white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War. 
 
 The shooting happened the day before the eighth anniversary of a fire at a furniture store that killed nine Charleston firefighters. ||||| Laquanda Moultrie, holding a stuffed bear she hopes to leave at Emanuel AME Church, stands with Surreace Cox near the police barrier. (Matthew Fortner/Staff) 
 
 After a night of fear and grief in downtown Charleston, authorities in North Carolina arrested a young white man on charges that he gunned down nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, ending a vast search but leaving the city and the nation reeling. 
 
 Video To see a video of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney’s opening prayer at the Charleston YWCA’s April 24 “Requiem on Racism 2015,” go to https://vimeo.com/126710749 
 
 The Holy City struggled to comprehend why the gunman police identified as 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof would sit down for an hour at a Bible study in the historic black church on Calhoun Street and then open fire, wiping out most of the clergy. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the killings as a hate crime. 
 
 The victims The nine people fatally shot at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church: Clementa Pinckney, 41, the primary pastor who also served as a state senator. Cynthia Hurd, 54, St. Andrews regional branch manager for the Charleston County Public Library system. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a church pastor, speech therapist and coach of the girls’ track and field team at Goose Creek High School. Tywanza Sanders, 26, who had a degree in business administration from Allen University, where Pinckney also attended. Ethel Lance, 70, a retired Gailliard Center employee who has worked recently as a church janitor. Susie Jackson, 87, Lance’s cousin who was a longtime church member. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, a retired director of the local Community Development Block Grant Program who joined the church in March as a pastor. Myra Thompson, 59, a pastor at the church. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74, a pastor, who died in a hospital operating room. 
 
 To President Barack Obama, the shooting stirred up “a dark part” of American history when racially motivated violence was more prevalent. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch declared that such acts have “no place in a civilized society.” 
 
 The emotional weight of the ordeal also brought local activists, Charleston’s police chief and South Carolina’s governor to tears as they fought to find words to ease community members who fear further violence in a city with a long and complicated history involving race. 
 
 “We woke up today, and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken,” Gov. Nikki Haley said, her voice trembling. “We have some grieving to do. ... Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe. That’s not something we ever thought we’d deal with.” 
 
 After a massive manhunt, Roof, who has shown interest in racial segregation and the Confederacy, was caught during a traffic stop Thursday morning in Shelby, N.C., 250 miles north of Charleston. A motorist there recognized Roof’s 15-year-old Hyundai from wanted posters distributed by police. 
 
 A resident of Eastover, a rural town near Columbia, Roof smiled at television cameras Thursday afternoon as Shelby officers led him to a waiting cruiser, his mop of blond hair hanging in his eyes and a ballistic vest covering his torso. He waived extradition, and South Carolina flew him back to Charleston County to face charges in what has been called one of worst hate crimes the United States has seen in decades. 
 
 Meanwhile, the community mourned and searched for answers, with hundreds packing prayer vigils in a show of solidarity and support for the fallen and the families they left behind. 
 
 In all, six women and three men died after gunfire sprayed through Emanuel’s basement. Among the dead were a state senator who served as the church’s primary pastor, a beloved county librarian, a dedicated girl’s track and field coach and a young college graduate. The victims ranged in age from 26 to 87. 
 
 Their deaths marked the second fatal shooting in the past three months that has drawn the nation’s eyes to the Charleston area, roiling racial tensions and prompting federal investigations. The FBI has been examining potential civil rights violations in the April 4 killing of Walter Scott, a black man shot in the back by a white North Charleston police officer. FBI agents also are looking into what motivated Wednesday’s bloody attack in Emanuel AME Church, Columbia-based spokeswoman Denise Taiste confirmed. 
 
 The tragedy also renewed politicians’ focus on reform of the nation’s gun laws. Obama said Thursday during a press briefing in Washington that the Charleston shooting should spark national introspection about the availability of guns. 
 
 “I’ve had to make statements like this too many times,” Obama said. “Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. Once again, innocent people were killed because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.” 
 
 The shooting 
 
 The tragedy unfolded on a hot, steamy night after about a dozen clergy and church members gathered for a regular Bible study and prayer service. They met in the basement, a ground-level floor beneath the sanctuary that housed the pastor’s office and other rooms. 
 
 They studied Mark 4 16:20. “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy ...” 
 
 A young white man, not part of the congregation, came in around 8:15 p.m. and sat down quietly. He stayed for 40 to 50 minutes as the session continued. 
 
 “But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away ...” 
 
 Suddenly, the young man rose, uttered remarks that betrayed his contempt for blacks and opened fire with a gun. 
 
 A female trustee, who hid under a table, was among the survivors. The gunman told her he would let her live so that she could tell the story of what happened. Two other survivors, including a young girl, played dead, church members said. 
 
 The search 
 
 The gunman slipped out of the church as dozens of police officers descended on the area armed with military-style rifles, teams of police dogs and helicopters that circled overhead. 
 
 Area residents locked the doors and bolted their gates, fearful after news spread that a gunman was on the loose. Activists from local black communities expressed fear of being targeted next. 
 
 James Johnson, South Carolina president of the National Action Network, stood in the middle of Calhoun Street, where city leaders had announced the death toll moments earlier Thursday morning, and cried. 
 
 Johnson has spoken out for years about civil rights concerns in Charleston-area policing. He had recently joined Clementa Pinckney, the slain AME church pastor, for a summit about the Scott shooting in North Charleston. 
 
 But Johnson had never coped with anything like this, he said, and he worried that it would discourage people from talking about racially charged problems. 
 
 “We feel that we’re not safe,” he said. “They could do the same thing when we speak out against this injustice. We must be mindful.” 
 
 As Johnson and others grappled with such thoughts, the gunman, who had slipped out of Charleston, put distance between himself and the carnage he’d left behind. 
 
 Investigators soon broadened their hunt, deploying local and statewide police agencies and top agents from the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They also circulated surveillance camera images of a young man with a bowl haircut who appeared to be the gunman they were looking for. A bulletin included pictures of the gunman’s 2000 Hyundai Elantra and a telephone tip line for people to call if they saw the car or its driver. 
 
 Tips started rolling in soon after the bulletin went out. By mid-morning, investigators named Roof as the suspected gunman and a call went out for his arrest. Shortly after 11 a.m., authorities announced he had been nabbed in North Carolina. 
 
 “We had a number of tips that were coming in,” Mullen, the police chief, later said. “It was amazing. Whenever we got a lead ... we sent out teams. It was a tremendous effort. ... I am so pleased that we were able to resolve this case quickly ... so that nobody else is harmed by this individual.” 
 
 A picture soon emerged of a troubled young high school dropout who had talked about blacks in racially inflammatory terms and had been arrested in recent months on drug and trespassing charges. 
 
 He had been banned from a Columbia mall in February after employees of two stores alerted police that Roof, dressed in all black clothing, was asking odd questions about their operations and when workers left for the night, an incident report stated. He was arrested on a trespassing charge in April after returning to the mall, records show. 
 
 Friends said something seemed to be bothering him, but he stayed out of trouble until he walked into Emanuel AME Church Wednesday night. 
 
 The aftermath 
 
 Obama and Vice President Joe Biden called Charleston Mayor Joe Riley on Thursday to relay their condolences. They praised the efforts to track down the suspect, Riley said. 
 
 “It’s a wonderful sign that we don’t let these people get away with these dastardly deeds,” he said. 
 
 But further rattling people as they mourned the losses, someone called in bomb threats to another downtown AME church where residents and leaders had gathered for a vigil and to the office building where Charleston County’s coroner announced the names of those who were slain. 
 
 Emotions already were raw this week from the anniversary of another tragedy that also claimed nine lives. The shooting occurred on the eve of the eighth remembrance of the June 18, 2007, Sofa Super Store blaze in West Ashley that killed Charleston firefighters. 
 
 County Coroner Rae Wooten said the anniversary made her team’s response to the shooting more difficult. 
 
 “It all came back,” she said. “It was somewhat disbelief that we could ever face something that horrific again.” 
 
 But people from local leaders to the president expressed resolve to overcome the latest carnage. 
 
 U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., called it “absolutely despicable” for such violence to occur in a place where people come together to “laugh, love and rejoice in God’s name.” 
 
 Obama said Emanuel AME and its congregation have risen before from flames, an earthquake and other dark times to give hope to Charleston, “and with our prayers and love and buoyancy, it will rise now as a place of peace.” 
 
 “Acts like this have no place in our country and no place in a civilized society,” Lynch, the attorney general, added during a Thursday morning news conference in Washington. “I want everyone in Charleston and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy to know that we will do everything in our power to help heal this community and make it whole again.” 
 
 Christina Elmore, Glenn Smith, Robert Behre, Melissa Boughton, Tony Bartelme, Schuyler Kropf and Jennifer Berry Hawes contributed to this report. ||||| CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A former friend who had reconnected with the man accused of a shooting massacre inside a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, said Dylann Storm Roof had become an avowed racist. 
 
 Gary and Aurelia Washington, center left and right, the son and granddaughter of Ethel Lance who died in Wednesday's shooting, leave a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church comforted by fellow... (Associated Press) 
 
 Olina Ortega, left, and Austin Gibbs light candles at a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church where people were killed by a white gunman Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside the historic... (Associated Press) 
 
 Olina Ortega, left, and Austin Gibbs light candles at a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church where people were killed by a white gunman Wednesday during a prayer meeting inside the historic... (Associated Press) 
 
 Joey Meek reconnected with Roof a few weeks ago and said that while they got drunk together on vodka, Roof began complaining that "blacks were taking over the world" and that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race." 
 
 Roof, 21, is accused of fatally shooting nine people during a Bible study at The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Wednesday night, ripping out a piece of South Carolina's civic heart and adding to the ever-growing list of America's racial casualties. 
 
 Police captured Roof in Shelby, North Carolina, after a motorist spotted him at a traffic light on her way to work. His apprehension ended an intense, hours-long manhunt. 
 
 Roof waived extradition and was back in Charleston on Thursday night with a bond hearing pending, authorities said. 
 
 Charleston officials announced a prayer vigil for Friday evening. The city's mayor described the shooting at the church as an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil." 
 
 The victims included a state senator who doubled as the church's minister, three other pastors, a regional library manager, a high school coach and speech therapist, a government administrator, a college enrollment counselor and a recent college graduate — six women and three men who felt called to open their church to all. 
 
 President Barack Obama called the tragedy yet another example of damage wreaked in America by guns. 
 
 NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said "there is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people." Others bemoaned the loss to a church that has served as a bastion of black power for 200 years, despite efforts by white supremacists to wipe it out. 
 
 "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," said Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family." 
 
 Surveillance video showed the gunman entering the church Wednesday night, and Charleston County Coroner Rae Wilson said he initially didn't appear threatening. 
 
 "The suspect entered the group and was accepted by them, as they believed that he wanted to join them in this Bible study," she said. Then, "he became very aggressive and violent." 
 
 Meek called the FBI after recognizing Roof in the surveillance footage, down to the stained sweatshirt he wore while playing Xbox videogames in Meek's home the morning of the attack. 
 
 "I didn't THINK it was him. I KNEW it was him," Meek told The Associated Press after being interviewed by investigators. 
 
 Meek said during their reunion a few weeks ago, Roof told him that he had used birthday money from his parents to buy a .45-caliber Glock pistol and that he had "a plan." He didn't say what the plan was, but Meek said it scared him enough that he took the gun out of Roof's car and hid it in his house until the next day. 
 
 It's not clear whether Roof had any connection to the 16 white supremacist organizations operating in South Carolina, but he appears to be a "disaffected white supremacist," based on his Facebook page, said Richard Cohen, president of Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 On his Facebook page, Roof displayed the flags of defeated white-ruled regimes, posing with a Confederate flags plate on his car and wearing a jacket with stitched-on flag patches from apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia, which is now black-led Zimbabwe. 
 
 His previous record includes misdemeanor drug and trespassing charges. 
 
 Spilling blood inside a black church — especially "Mother Emanuel," founded in 1816 — evoked painful memories nationwide, a reminder that black churches so often have been the targets of racist violence. 
 
 A church founder, Denmark Vesey, was hanged after trying to organize a slave revolt in 1822, and white landowners burned the church in revenge, leaving parishioners to worship underground until after the Civil War. The congregation rebuilt and grew stronger, eventually winning campaigns for voting rights and political representation. 
 
 Its lead pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney — among the dead — recalled his church's history in a 2013 sermon, saying "we don't see ourselves as just a place where we come to worship, but as a beacon and as a bearer of the culture." 
 
 "What the church is all about," Pinckney said, is the "freedom to be fully what God intends us to be and have equality in the sight of God. And sometimes you got to make noise to do that. Sometimes you may have to die like Denmark Vesey to do that." 
 
 Pinckney, 41, was a married father of two and a Democrat who spent 19 years in the South Carolina legislature after he was first elected at 23, becoming the youngest member of the House. 
 
 The other victims were Cynthia Hurd, 54; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; and the reverends DePayne Middleton Doctor, 49; Sharonda Singleton, 45; and Daniel Simmons Sr., 74. 
 
 U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the attack would be investigated as a hate crime. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Contributors include Alex Sanz, Meg Kinnard and David Goldman in Charleston, South Carolina; Mitch Weiss in Columbia, South Carolina; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama; Eric Tucker in Washington; and Jacob Jordan in Atlanta. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley calls for the removal of the Confederate rebel flag from state house grounds. VPC 
 
 Two women hold posters against the Confederate flag during a protest rally in Columbia, S.C., June 20, 2015. (Photo: Mladen Antonov, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 A group of political and religious leaders from Charleston, S.C., are headed to Columbia, the state's capital, to call on lawmakers to remove the Confederate battle flag flying on the State House grounds. But even if they manage to gain the needed votes, it may be months before the flag actually comes down. 
 
 Across the nation there has been a growing outcry for the flag to be removed after nine black worshipers were killed by a gunman with allegedly white supremacist views during a prayer meeting at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston last week. 
 
 The push to take down the flag is the latest chapter in a heated debate that has roiled the Palmetto State for more than 50 years, and several political obstacles make any quick resolution of the argument unlikely. 
 
 Prominent voices within South Carolina have joined in the call for the flag's removal, including Gov. Nikki Haley. "It's time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds," she said during a press conference Monday. 
 
 House Speaker Jay Lucas on Monday called for a "swift resolution of this issue." 
 
 The state legislature is set to meet Tuesday to discuss the budget, and officials, including Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley and local State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, have called on the legislators to stay in session and vote on removing the flag. They plan to continue that call at a rally in front of the State House at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. 
 
 The Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III of the National Action Network is calling for the flag to be taken down before State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who also was chief pastor of Emanuel AME and who was killed in the attack, lies in state at the South Carolina Capitol on Wednesday. 
 
 Winning a vote to remove the flag will be no small feat, however, and it almost certainly won't happen by Wednesday. 
 
 As part of a deal reached 15 years ago, two-thirds of both chambers of the state legislature must vote to remove the flag. 
 
 Kimpson, a Democrat, says there is a "growing chorus" of members interested in taking up a debate on the flag during Tuesday's session, but even to bring the matter up for discussion would require the support of two-thirds of the legislators. 
 
 What's more, even if lawmakers agree to discuss a bill calling for the flag's removal, procedural hurdles will take time to overcome, State Rep. Todd Rutherford, also a Democrat, says. The bill would have to clear the judiciary committee and then come back to the floor for debate, Rutherford says. 
 
 "If I had to set a deadline, I'd say about August 1st, hopefully before September, but the House is going to work as soon as possible to get it done," he told WLTX-TV. 
 
 Sen. Larry Martin, a Republican who heads the state Senate Judiciary Committee, said he favors waiting until at least next week to take on the matter. 
 
 Sen. Mike Fair, also a Republican, favors holding off until January for a debate, saying the push for a vote now is "almost being opportunistic." 
 
 Haley said that if lawmakers don't take up the the flag debate this summer, she will call them back for a special session. 
 
 "There will be a time for discussion and debate. The time for action is coming soon," Haley said. 
 
 Haley is not the first South Carolina governor to call for the flag's removal from government buildings. In 1996, then-governor David Beasley pushed to have it removed from the Capitol dome, only to back off and then be driven from office two years later in the political blowback. 
 
 The Confederate battle flag first flew atop the State House in 1962 as part of the Civil War centennial commemoration, where it remained, despite persistent protest from civil rights groups, until 2000. That year a political compromise led to the flag being removed from the Capitol Dome and another raised on a 30-foot flagpole at the Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the State House. 
 
 Many South Carolinians, such as Leland Summers, the head of the state's chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, say the flag is about history and heritage, not hate. 
 
 "Do not associate the cowardly actions of a racist to our Confederate Banner," Summers said in a statement. "There is absolutely no link between The Charleston Massacre and The Confederate Memorial Banner. Don't try to create one." 
 
 For others the flag is a symbol of the state's legacy of slavery and racial oppression. 
 
 Rivers calls it a symbol of "hate and division." 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING South Carolina govenor to address the Confederate flag issue | 0:19 South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to call for the Confederate flag to be removed from the state capitol. Kinfay Moroti/USA Today 1 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Large crowd gathers as Emanuel AME church holds service | 1:44 A message of hope was spread through Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on Sunday. The church held its first worship service since a shooting that left 9 people dead. Even those that had to worship outside were happy to be there. WLTX TV 2 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Church's message of hope rings out in Charleston | 1:10 Members of Mother Emanuel AME Church return to service Sunday in Charleston, South Carolina. Thousands of people listened to the service outside the church. Kinfay Moroti/ USA TODAY 3 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 1st Church Service Held after Bible Study Attack | 2:05 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church opened its doors on Sunday for the first time following a deadly shooting that killed 9 church members. (June 21) AP 4 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Raw: Bells Toll in Honor of Slain Church Members | 1:55 Church bells rang throughout Charleston in remembrance of nine people who were slain during a Bible study. (June 21) AP 5 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 1st Church Service Held After SC Shooting | 1:42 Members of a historic black church worshiped at their sanctuary Sunday for the first time since a gunman opened fire at a Bible study, killing nine people. (June 21) AP 6 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Faith leaders hold interfaith, interracial prayer service | 1:42 A time of mourning after the Charleston church shooting in South Carolina is bringing people together from different races and religions. VPC 7 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Mass killing alludes to Charleston's historic racial strife | 2:34 The mass killing in Charleston, South Carolina alludes to the city's historic racial strife. Local resident share their thoughts on Charleston's past, present and future. VIDEO BY KINFAY MOROTI/USA TODAY 8 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Roof's purported manifesto under investigation | 1:04 A manifesto purportedly written by accused killer Dylann Roof could explain why Charleston was targeted in the church shootings and what motivated the deadly attack. VPC 9 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting victims were loved, respected | 1:12 Loved ones share their memories of those killed in the shooting at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as their thoughts on the accused killer Dylann Roof. VPC 10 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston unites to remember church shooting victims | 1:21 Charleston residents joined hands and voices at the city's first official vigil following the murders of nine people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. WCNC 11 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Armed posses to protect black churches in Arizona | 1:12 Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will send armed posses of volunteers to 60 black churches around Phoenix, following the deadly attack on a historically black church in Charleston. Arpaio's office has previously been accused of racial profiling. VPC 12 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting shines spotlight on Confederate flag | 1:29 The murders of nine African Americans inside a historically black Charleston church have reignited calls to take down the Confederate flag outside South Carolina's Statehouse, but the historic symbol won't come down easily, if it does at all. VPC 13 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Finding forgiveness in Charleston | 2:20 Charleston residents share thier thoughts Friday on forgiving Dylan Roof, who has been charged with nine counts of murder in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church is Charleston, South Carolina. Video by Kinfay Moroti/USA TODAY 14 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 'I forgive you.' Charleston victims' families send powerful message | 1:34 Family members of the nine victims killed in a shooting at a Charleston church confronted the suspect Dylann Roof in court Friday, sending a powerful and emotional message. VPC 15 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston mayor: Death penalty likely to be sought | 0:36 Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Joseph Riley said although he doesn't condone the death penalty, he thinks prosecutors will seek it in the Emanuel AME church shooting. VPC 16 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Keeping churches safe: Pastors seek help after shooting | 1:08 In the aftermath of the Charleston, S.C. shooting, a North Carolina police department is offering special training sessions for religious leaders who want to know how to bette keep their congregations safe. VPC 17 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Images of Dylann Roof suggest racist ideology | 0:56 The 21-year-old man accused of killing nine people as they worshiped at a Charleston, South Carolina church has a criminal past. Dylann Roof was arrested twice this year and images of him posted to social media seem to show a racist ideology. WCNC 18 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Shooting victims' families to Dylann Roof: We 'forgive you' | 7:04 Dylann Roof, the suspect in the mass shootings that killed nine at a Charleston church, appeared in court for his bond hearing Friday. Family members of the victims addressed Roof emotionally, and said that they "forgive" him and "hate won't win." USA TODAY 19 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston youths coping with aftermath of church shooting | 1:18 Families talk about the challenges of explaining the Charleston church shooting to young children. VPC 20 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Dylann Roof led from station in bullet proof vest | 0:43 Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old accused of shooting and killing nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC is led out of the Shelby, NC Police Dept. in handcuffs and a bullet proof vest. He was caught in Shelby with the help of a tip. WCNC 21 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Memorial grows in Charleston one day after shooting | 0:40 A memorial for the nine people who died at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston when a gunman opened fire on a prayer service is growing, as people gather to pay tribute to the dead while focusing on healing. VPC 22 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Jon Stewart skips jokes, gets serious about Charleston | 1:37 Jon Stewart's latest 'Daily Show' appearance was a somber one — in the wake of the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, where Dylann Roof is accused of killing six women and three men Wednesday, Stewart decided to forego his usual jokes completely. USA TODAY 23 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Florist's tip led to capture of Charleston shooting suspect | 1:49 The suspect in the mass shotting at a Charleston church, Dylann Storm Roof, was captured in Shelby, North Carolina, thanks to a tip from a local florist. WCNC-TV 24 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Nighttime images of a church shattered by shooting | 0:39 Night at Emanuel A.M.E Church in Charleston, South Carolina is filled with despair, remembrance and small flames of hope, Video by Kinfay Moroti/USA TODAY USA TODAY 25 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Hundreds gather at Charleston church to pay respect | 1:48 Members of a neighboring church attended a special service before walking over to the Emanuel AME church to pay their respect to the victims lost in the mass shooting. WCNC 26 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston shooting victims include pastors, recent grad | 4:52 The community of Charleston, SC is coming together to remember the lives of those killed inside the Emanuel AME Church. VPC 27 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston residents struggle to understand shooting | 1:08 Scenes from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed in a mass shooting Wednesday during service. Kinfay Moroti, Gannett 28 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Historic black churches rethink security after shooting | 1:49 On the heels of the Charleston, South Carolina church massacre, historic black churches in Atlanta not only grieve, but rethink security measures. WXIA-TV, Atlanta 29 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING A 'heartbroken' Charleston gathers to mourn shooting victims | 0:57 Hundreds gathered to pay tribute to the nine victims of a church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. VPC 30 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Suspect arrested in Charleston church shooting | 0:39 Charleston authorities have arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof in connection with the killing of nine people at Emanuel AME church. Roof was arrested during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina. VPC 31 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Raw: See people praying, hugging outside of SC church | 0:55 The community of Charleston, South Carolina is coming together to mourn the victim's of the Emaneul AME Church shooting. USA TODAY 32 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Pinckney colleague: 'Biggest heart you could imagine' | 1:25 South Carolina state senators became emotional during Thursday's session as they reflected on slain state Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was among those killed in the Charleston church shooting. His chair was draped in black fabric in his absence. VPC 33 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Obama: I've made statements like this 'too many times' | 2:20 President Obama spoke about the tragedy at a church in Charleston, S.C., saying he's made a speech like this too often. The president says he knew the pastor who was killed at the Emanuel AME church, where 9 people were killed while praying. VPC 34 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Gov. Haley cries: 'Heart and soul of S.C. was broken' | 1:25 South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley got emotional while speaking at a press conference about the massacre at Emanuel AME church in Charleston where a gunman opened fire at a prayer service killing nine people. WLTX 35 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Attorney General: Charleston shooting 'barbaric' | 1:24 Speaking at a press conference, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the shooting that killed 9 people at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina both "barbaric" and "heartless." VPC 36 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Slain pastor Clementa Pinckney will be 'sorely missed' | 1:07 Pastor Clementa Pinckney is among those killed in a shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The 41-year-old was also serving as a South Carolina state senator at the time of his death. WLTX-TV 37 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Charleston police: 'We will catch' church shooter | 1:12 Chief Gregory Mullen emphasized his department's commitment to catching the man suspected of killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Police confirm they currently do not know where the suspect is. WLTX TV 38 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Pastor killed in church massacre was a 'leader' | 1:01 After news of South Carolina state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney's death at the hands of a gunman at his Charleston church, fellow State Senator Kevin Johnson said Pinckney had a passion for the less fortunate in his state. WLTX 39 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING 9 dead in Charleston after church massacre | 0:58 Nine people, including state senator Celementa Pinckney, were killed during a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Pinckney was also the pastor of the church. Police say the shooting was a hate crime. VPC 40 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Sen. killed in church wanted 'people to feel safe' there | 0:30 The S.C. state Senator and pastor killed when a gunman shot up his Charleston church was an advocate for safe churches. In the state legislator in 2013, Sen. Clementa Pinckney supported a bill that would expand penalties for church vandalism. WLTX 41 of 42 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE CHARLESTON, S.C. CHURCH SHOOTING Police: Charleston church shooting was a hate crime | 0:54 Authorities are looking for a young white man in connection to the massacre at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC where a gunman opened fire, killing nine people. WLTX TV 42 of 42 Last VideoNext Video South Carolina govenor to address the Confederate flag issue 
 
 Large crowd gathers as Emanuel AME church holds service 
 
 Church's message of hope rings out in Charleston 
 
 1st Church Service Held after Bible Study Attack 
 
 Raw: Bells Toll in Honor of Slain Church Members 
 
 1st Church Service Held After SC Shooting 
 
 Faith leaders hold interfaith, interracial prayer service 
 
 Mass killing alludes to Charleston's historic racial strife 
 
 Roof's purported manifesto under investigation 
 
 Charleston shooting victims were loved, respected 
 
 Charleston unites to remember church shooting victims 
 
 Armed posses to protect black churches in Arizona 
 
 Charleston shooting shines spotlight on Confederate flag 
 
 Finding forgiveness in Charleston 
 
 'I forgive you.' Charleston victims' families send powerful message 
 
 Charleston mayor: Death penalty likely to be sought 
 
 Keeping churches safe: Pastors seek help after shooting 
 
 Images of Dylann Roof suggest racist ideology 
 
 Shooting victims' families to Dylann Roof: We 'forgive you' 
 
 Charleston youths coping with aftermath of church shooting 
 
 Dylann Roof led from station in bullet proof vest 
 
 Memorial grows in Charleston one day after shooting 
 
 Jon Stewart skips jokes, gets serious about Charleston 
 
 Florist's tip led to capture of Charleston shooting suspect 
 
 Nighttime images of a church shattered by shooting 
 
 Hundreds gather at Charleston church to pay respect 
 
 Charleston shooting victims include pastors, recent grad 
 
 Charleston residents struggle to understand shooting 
 
 Historic black churches rethink security after shooting 
 
 A 'heartbroken' Charleston gathers to mourn shooting victims 
 
 Suspect arrested in Charleston church shooting 
 
 Raw: See people praying, hugging outside of SC church 
 
 Pinckney colleague: 'Biggest heart you could imagine' 
 
 Obama: I've made statements like this 'too many times' 
 
 Gov. Haley cries: 'Heart and soul of S.C. was broken' 
 
 Attorney General: Charleston shooting 'barbaric' 
 
 Slain pastor Clementa Pinckney will be 'sorely missed' 
 
 Charleston police: 'We will catch' church shooter 
 
 Pastor killed in church massacre was a 'leader' 
 
 9 dead in Charleston after church massacre 
 
 Sen. killed in church wanted 'people to feel safe' there 
 
 Police: Charleston church shooting was a hate crime 
 
 "The flag is the symbol of the worst of South Carolina's past," he said. 
 
 Haley said she is not interested in picking winners and losers in the debate, but said the time has come for the flag on the State House grounds to go. 
 
 "For those who wish to show their respect for the flag on their private property, no one will stand in your way," Haley said. "But the State House is different. And the events of the past week call upon all of us to look at this in a different way." 
 
 William Cummings reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY; Tony Santaella, WLTX-TV, Columbia, S.C.; and The Associated Press 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE In wake of the shooting deaths of nine people inside a historic South Carolina church, some major department stores announced they would stop carrying the controversial Confederate Flag. Buzz60's Leigh Scheps (@LeighTVReporter) reports. Buzz60 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1N2Xlw5
– "This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience," Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen told reporters after a mass shooting at a historic black church left nine people dead. "I do believe this was a hate crime," he says of the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by a young white man who is still at large. The president of the Charleston NAACP tells the Post and Courier that a survivor says the gunman briefly sat down in the Emanuel AME Church before opening fire on a prayer meeting, but at a news conference this morning, Mullen said the shooter stuck around for almost an hour before the shooting began, the AP reports. Mullen also distributed a surveillance video of a possible suspect and vehicle, and added that the victims were six females and three males. The NAACP chief says the gunman told one woman he was letting her live so she could tell others what happened. "It is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives," Mullen told reporters. "I can assure you that we're going to do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up and to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else." Mayor Joe Riley called the suspect "one hateful person," describing the shooting as "the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine." In other developments: Helicopters are circling Charleston in the search for the suspect, who's described as a white male, around 21 years old, slender, clean-shaven, and wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans, and Timberland boots, the Guardian reports. Police say he is "obviously extremely dangerous." State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor, was in the church at the time of the attack, and State House Minority leader Todd Rutherford tells the AP that the lawmaker was among those killed. The 41-year-old "never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should," Rutherford says. "He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody." The Post and Courier has more on the history of the church, which it calls the "spiritual home to one of the oldest and largest black congregations south of Baltimore," and which many in the city call "Mother Emanuel." Its roots go back to 1816, and it was burned after one of its founders tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. Members went underground until after the Civil War, when the church adopted the name "Emanuel." Jeb Bush has canceled a Charleston campaign appearance scheduled for today, the New York Times reports. A campaign aide for Hillary Clinton says she was in the city yesterday but left before the shooting.