9 dead in shooting at black church in Charleston, S.C.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Nine people have died in a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., police said early Thursday morning.

"I do believe this was a hate crime," Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.

Eight people died on the scene at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and one person was pronounced dead at a hospital, Mullen said. The suspect, who remains on the loose, is a white male about 21 years old, officials said.

The shooting took place at about 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Charleston Police released photos of the suspect during a news conference that started at 6 a.m. ET Thursday, and said he left the scene in a black four door sedan. He is described as "armed and dangerous."

Church members were shot as they took part in shot at bible study, the NAACP said. Dot Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP, said a female survivor told family members that the gunman initially sat down in the church for a while before opening fire, the Post and Courier reported. Scott added that the gunman reportedly told the woman he was letting her live so she could tell others what happened.

Among the dead was the state senator who was pastor of the church, Democrat Clementa Pinckney, said South Carolina House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, the Associated Press reported. Pinckney, 41, was married with two children and had served in the state Senate since 2000, according to online biographies.

People were taking part in a prayer meeting at the time of the incident, Mayor Joe Riley said during the press conference.

"This is inexplicable," Riley said. "It is the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible ... The only reason someone could walk into church and shoot people praying is out of hate."

Said Police Chief Mullen: "This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. It is senseless. It is unfathomable that someone would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."

Mullen said the FBI would aid the investigation.

Emanuel is the oldest AME church in the South and has one of the oldest and largest black congregations south of Baltimore, according to its website. Denmark Vesey, executed for attempting to organize a major slave rebellion in 1822, was one of the founders.

The suspect is a clean-shaven young white male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, of slender build and with sandy blond hair. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt or hoodie, blue jeans and Timberland boots, officials said.

Pinckney was a native of Beaufort, S.C., and graduated magna cum laude from Allen University in 1995. He received a master's of divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a master's degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina. He was elected to the South Carolina House in 1996, when he was 23, and was elected to the state Senate in 2000.

Community organizer Christopher Cason said he believed the shootings were racially motivated, the AP reported. "I am very tired of people telling me that I don't have the right to be angry," he said. "I am very angry right now."

Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement: "The NAACP was founded to fight against racial hatred and we are outraged that 106 years later, we are faced today with another mass hate crime.

"There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture."

In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked people to pray for the victims and their families. "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.

Senator Tim Scott, who last year became the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate from the south since Reconstruction, said in a statement that he will be leaving Washington to return home to South Carolina as soon as possible.

"My heart is breaking for Charleston and South Carolina tonight," he said. "This senseless tragedy at a place of worship — where we come together to laugh, love and rejoice in God's name — is absolutely despicable and can never be understood."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was in Charleston hours before the shooting, tweeted: "Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all. -H."

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush canceled his events in the city, where he was scheduled to campaign Thursday.

"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his spokesperson Allie Brandenburger said in a statement.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara