Dylann Storm Roof, the white man wanted in connection with killing nine people during a prayer service inside a historic black church, was apprehended Thursday morning after a manhunt across South Carolina, officials said.
Roof, 21, is suspected of entering the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday night and opening fire in what is being investigated as a hate crime.
“A terrible human being is now in custody,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. told reporters at a news conference announcing the arrest. “We don’t let people like this get away with a dastardly deed like this.”
Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen told reporters that Roof was arrested during a traffic stop in Shelby, N.