Thread: Police responding to a 'mass shooting' in Charleston, S.C.

Police responding to a 'mass shooting' in Charleston, S.C.


Charleston police are responding to a shooting at a downtown church on June 17, 2015. (Reuters)


By Tribune wire reports contact the reporter


Police were responding to a call of a "mass shooting" at a church in South Carolina Wednesday evening, according to numerous media reports. The Associated Press indicated that the incident occurred at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston around 9 p.m.

lRelated
NATION & WORLD Photos: Shooting at Charleston church SEE ALL RELATED

The suspected shooter is still at large, according to the Charleston Police Department's Twitter. Police described the suspect as a white male, approximately 21 years old, with a slender build. They also indicated he is believed to be wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and Timberland boots.


Orlando MLS team to stay in Charleston hotel despite nearby mass shooting

The Post and Courier newspaper is reporting that the pastor of the church was inside for a service at the time of the shooting.

But it was unclear if the shooting took place inside the church.
An Associated Press reporter on the scene says police helicopters with searchlights are circling overhead in the area, and a group of pastors are kneeling and praying across the street.

Police Spokesman Charles Francis confirmed that media crews were pushed a block away from the center of police activity to the corner of King and Calhoun because of an alleged bomb threat at the Charleston Marriott hotel.

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.

This is a developing story, please check back for details.
Associated Press contributed to this report

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...617-story.html

Charleston church shooting: Multiple fatalities in South Carolina, source says

By Ed Payne, CNN
Updated 12:09 AM ET, Thu June 18, 2015

(CNN)[Latest developments]

-- The mayor and the police chief are expected to hold a news briefing shortly
-- An official close to the investigation told CNN there are multiple fatalities inside the church. The source said there are several bodies in the church that have not yet been identified.
-- The suspect in the shooting is a clean-shaven white man in his 20s, with a slender build, police say.
[Full story]

Several people were killed in a shooting at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

The shooter is still at large.

The shooting took place Wednesday evening at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest AME church in the South.

Police haven't said how many people have been shot. But the source who spoke to CNN said several bodies were in the church that were yet to be identified.

"It's really bad. It's a very bad scene," local pastor Thomas Dixon said.

"Apparently the person just entered the church and opened fire. That part has not been fully articulated on what happened yet ... they are still looking for the suspect."

Search on for suspect

Police said the suspect in the shooting is a clean-shaven white man in his 20s, with a slender build. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and boots.

Soon afterward, news cameras showed officers taking a man matching that description into custody, but police said they were still looking for the shooter.

The department asked anyone with information to call 911 dispatchers

Historic significance

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1816 when African-American members of Charleston's Methodist Episcopal Church formed their own congregation after a dispute over burial grounds.

Six years later, one of the church founders was implicated in a slave revolt plot. He wasn't convicted.

During the case, the church was burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1834.

Heavy police presence

Every Wednesday evening, the church holds a Bible study in its basement.

Corey Wessenger, who was standing across the street from the church, said the area was swarming with law enforcement.

"I just saw a group of about 40 people escorted by cops," Wessenger told CNN by phone.

Community members gathered in a prayer circle just down the street from the scene.

Patrick Wright, a reporter with WFMY News, tweeted, "We've been told not to leave our restaurant here in #Charleston for the time being. Helicopter still circling above."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/us/cha...lina-shooting/

Police confirm bomb threat at scene of downtown Charleston shooting

Posted: Jun 17, 2015 6:08 PM PDTUpdated: Jun 17, 2015 9:04 PM PDT

Emergency officials in downtown Charleston Wednesday night (Source: WCSC)

Emergency officials in downtown Charleston Wednesday night (Source: WCSC)

(Source: WCSC)

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) -Charleston Police have confirmed a bomb threat has been called in Wednesday night at the scene of a shooting in downtown Charleston.

Additional Links

Man taken into custody during Charleston shooting investigation has been released


SLIDESHOW: Shooting reported at downtown Charleston church


Police are pushing media and bystanders across Meeting Street after a bomb threat was reported in the area of Emanuel AME Church near 110 Calhoun Street.

According to Charleston Police, people in the area have not been asked to evacuate their homes at this time.

WATCH: Live 5 News continuing coverage

Authorities say they are continuing to search for the suspect who allegedly fired shots at the church around 9 p.m.

CPD officials describe the suspect as a white male, 21 years old, slender/small build, grey sweat shirt, blue jeans and clean shaven.

SLIDESHOW: Shooting reported at downtown Charleston church

A helicopter is assisting law enforcement on the scene.

A big police presence was seen at the Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street. The FBI and the Chaplain service are on the scene.

CPD officials have not released any information yet on any victims.

Pictures and video from the scene show the fire department and ambulance crews have responded.

At least six ambulances were spotted in the area of the shooting.

http://www.kait8.com/story/29347341/...eston-shooting

Oh this is just awful. These poor families who lost loved ones and friends. A no-good low-life did this.

Moved to Other Topic - Off topic for General Discussion.

Manhunt on for gunman who killed 9 at South Carolina church prayer meeting

Published June 18, 2015 FoxNews.com




A frantic manhunt was on in South Carolina, hours after a "horrible scoundrel" opened fire in a historic African-American church in downtown Charleston, killing nine, including a state senator who is a prominent pastor, during a regular prayer meeting.

Police immediately branded the shooting spree, which began just after 9 p.m. Wednesday, a hate crime, and released surveillance images of a white man fleeing the scene at 180-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church after the horrific incident, which left six women and three men dead.

"This is an unspeakable and unfathomable act by somebody filled with hate and a deranged mind," Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley said in a Thursday morning press conference. He vowed that authorities were "committed to finding this horrible scoundrel."

"This is an unspeakable and unfathomable act by somebody filled with hate and a deranged mind."

- Charleston, S.C., Mayor Joseph Riley

A five-year-old girl reportedly survived the attack by following her grandmother's instructions to play dead, and a woman was allowed to leave to tell what had happened. It was not immediately known what message she was supposed to convey.

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said the gunman, described as clean-shaven and approximately 21 years old with sandy blonde hair and a slender build, was still at large. Police said the man was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt with blue jeans and Timberland boots.

More on this...

• Nine people killed in church massacre in South Carolina
  
  

“We are committed to do whatever is necessary to bring this individual to justice,” Mullen said, adding that the suspect “should not be approached by anyone.”

Related Image

Expand / Contract

June 17, 2015: Police and ambulances responded to the scene of a shooting in Charleston, S.C. (Photo courtesy WCSC)


Mullen said the suspect entered the church and sat in a pew for up to an hour after the regular prayer meeting had begun, before opening fire at 9:06 p.m.
"This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience," Mullen said. "It is senseless and unfathomable in today's society that someone would walk into a church during a prayer meeting and take their lives."
Mullen said investigators are going through surveillance video gathered overnight from a variety of sources to try to determine the suspect’s whereabouts. State Police and the FBI were working with local authorities in the hunt. Although Mullen said “there is no doubt in my mind that this is a hate crime,” the Department of Justice, which will ultimately make that determination, said it is opening a hate crime investigation.
Mullen said the scene was chaotic when police arrived, and the officers thought they had the suspect tracked with a police dog, but he got away. He also announced that a reward for information leading to the shooter's capture would be offered Thursday and that the FBI would aid the investigation.
Authorities said the crime scene investigation had been complicated by a bomb threat that had been called in, forcing police to move members of the media back and close off a large section of the street where the shooting took place.
Among the dead was the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, 41, who had been a pastor since he was 18. Pinckney was the youngest African-American elected to the South Carolina legislature when he won office in 1996 at age 23 and had been a state senator since 2000. The other victims were not immediately identified.
Soon after Wednesday night's shooting, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street. Early Thursday, a family assistance center was set up for families of the victims at a nearby hotel, according to city officials. The center will be staffed by local, state and federal victim services personnel and the Charleston Coastal Chaplaincy.
Amid the prayers and disbelief, was a simmering anger. Community organizer Christopher Cason told The Associated Press he felt certain the shootings were racially motivated.
"I am very tired of people telling me that I don't have the right to be angry," Cason said. "I am very angry right now."
Authorities said the shooting took place at approximately 9 p.m. local time. Police would not immediately confirm the identities of the victims. Mullen said there were survivors, but did not say how many, or how many were inside the church at the time of the shooting.
Dot Scott, the president of the Charleston NAACP, told the Post and Couriernewspaper that she had spoken with a female survivor who said the gunman told the woman he was letting her live so she could tell others what had happened.
"There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of Scripture," NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks said in a statement Thursday. "Today I mourn as an AME minister, as a student and teacher of scripture, as well as a member of the NAACP."
Police described the suspect as wearing a gray sweatshirt with blue jeans and Timberland boots.
The church is a well-known landmark in Charleston, known as "The Holy City" because of its many houses of worship and denominations. The church traces its roots to 1816 when African-American members of the city's Methodist Episcopal Church, led by a freed slave, broke away to form their own congregation. The church was burned to the ground in the 1820s, and rebuilt a decade later.
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. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley issued a statement calling the shooting a "senseless tragedy."
"While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivated anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," Haley said. "Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers."
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. posted a series of Twitter message about the tragedy. "My heart is breaking for Charleston and South Carolina tonight," one of them read.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/18...-at-sc-church/