A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime.
The shooter remained at large Thursday morning.
Police Chief Greg Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was a hate crime, and police were looking for a white male in his early 20s.
The suspect was descibed as about 21 years old, with a slender build.