Police in North Carolina have detained a 21 year old man, whom they believe responsible for a shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church that left nine dead, including the wife of an ACNA priest
Police in North Carolina have detained a 21 year old man, whom they believe responsible for a shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church that left nine dead, including the wife of an Anglican Church in North America priest.
The Associated Press reports that police have arrested Dylann Roof (21) at a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina. Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said police had been given a tip as to the suspected killers whereabouts, and added Roof had surrendered to authorities without incident.
On the evening of 17 June 2015 Roof joined a prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston led by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney. After watching the service for about an hour, Roof is alleged to have pulled a gun on the congregation and shot Mr. Pinckney and and at all those present. A five year old child survived the shooting by playing dead, Charleston police, reported, while one woman was spared by Roof so that she would tell the world of his deeds.
The Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, the Most Rev. Foley Beach, on 18 June 2015 released a statement asking for prayer for the families of the victims.
Please join me in praying for the Rev. Anthony Thompson, Vicar of Holy Trinity REC (ACNA) Church in Charleston, his family, and their congregation, with the killing of his wife, Myra, in the Charleston shootings last night,” he wrote in a message posted to Facebook.
The killers motives are not known at this time, but police speculate that the killings were racially motivated as Roof was white and all of his victims were black. The scene of the shootings, Emanuel Church, is a parish of the AME Church, a historically African American denomination.
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,” Mrs. Haley said.