At least nine people have been killed after a gunman opened fire at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in what police have described as a “hate crime”. 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 have not confirmed the identities of the victims, eight of whom were killed in the church, another dying on the way to hospital.
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.
The department asked anyone with information to call 911 dispatchers