DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Shooting suspect in custody after Charleston church massacre

Dylann Roof, 21, arrested, identified as Charleston shooting suspect
By Washington Times Staff - - Thursday, June 18, 2015

UPDATE: Dylann Roof has been apprehended in Shelby, North Carolina, CBS affiliate WLTX reported. Authorities are slated to hold a news conference soon.

Dylann Roof, 21, was identified by the FBI as the Charleston shooting suspect Thursday morning.

The FBI said Roof is 5‘9” and approximately 120 pounds, and could be driving a black 2000 Hyundai Elantra. the license plate is LGF330.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck effort with the community as well as law enforcement, and I think that with that effort we will find this person quickly,” Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said at a press conference.

Roof is from South Carolina and has been arrested twice in the state as an adult, Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper reported.

Roof is from Lexington, S.C.

In a photo on his Facebook page, Roof is seen wearing a black jacket apartheid-era flags of South Africa and Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe).

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is investigating the rampage as a hate crime.

Here is what we know about the shooting rampage:

* White gunman opened fire inside the historically black Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina around 9 p.m.

* Nine people are dead: Six women, three men.

* The Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a South Carolina state senator, among the dead.

* Eight victims died at the church, the ninth victim succumbed to wounds at a nearby hospital.

* Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen deemed the shooting a hate crime.

* The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has opened a hate crime investigation into the Charleston massacre.

* Gunman attended a Bible study/prayer group at the church for nearly an hour before unleashing the attack.

* Assailant allowed one woman to escape to explain to authorities what transpired.

* Child survived the rampage by playing dead

* Gunman is still on the run — and is considered armed and dangerous.

* Police released surveillance images of assailant entering the church.


Washington Times
_______________________________
Ok, I'm surprised this wasn't already posted. I picked this article from the Washington Times for no real reason, there are 1000 articles on this incident and this kid so please don't read into the article I picked, I just wanted to start the conversation.

I have a lot of feelings on this... First is total sadness for those affected, the dead, their families, those who had to witness this incident... the second is anger, anger that this kid would do something like this. I've heard multiple stories about why he did it and, based on what I've heard so far, he was a drug addicted, racist punk, with mental issues. And last is disgust, disgust with how quickly those in the political arena pounced on it to make whatever their particular political case is... some on the right saying this happened because churches are a gun free zone? Really? that's idiotic (not to mention legally false in SC)... then more calls for gun control... then articles that this kid has a rebel flag sticker somewhere.... guys, let the tears dry before making this a political issue.

I'm glad they caught him, I'm hopeful that he will serve the maximum punishment possible for what he did.. and I'm hopeful that the City of Charleston (which I travel to often and may be moving to in the not too distant future) will find some kind of peace and get through this as a community

I've seen a number of comments whether this guy is metally ill or not, some people even angry at the suggestion. I do think this guy is mentally ill, but in NO WAY ill that should reduce his accountability.

how come minorities and arabic muslims don't get the "mentally ill" excuse from media and citizens?

Anybody who shoots 8 or 9 innocent people for no reason is mentally ill... I don't really care what anybody (or any expert) says about it.

RIP to everyone who died.

I don't want to address all the political nonsense except for one:

he had a neo-nazism emblem and the flag that represented Apartheid in South Africa.

that's as clear cut as you can get about somebody's views on race.

Anybody, black, white, Muslim, who shoots innocent people for no apparent reason is mentally ill. Terrorists who would blow up innocent people are mentally ill.... a person who is fighting to defend his homeland? Not sure that's mentally ill. A black kid fighting with a cop or running from a cop, not necessarily a sign of mental illness.

Seriel killers, mass murderers, violent radical extremists... mentally ill.

that's great, except the media isn't reporting it that way.

and as much as we can act enlightened on it, the fact of the matter is, well, the media is absolutely reporting things different depending on the demographic involved, and its shaping the way our society views each other.

Very sad. We lost some mighty fine people to this young man.

A classic case of Good vs Evil.
Good was doing as Good does when Evil lashed out in hate and rage
to devour the Good. Sad but eternal. May God bless them all.

I hate the 'mentally ill' crap. This guy obviously knew what he was doing. In my opinion, if he was mentally ill, he would have shot the 'dark elves' that were chasing him, not shot black people because they were unarmed and black. Hate does not make one deranged or 'mentally ill'. If that was the case, you could apply 'mental illness' to just about anyone that committed any type of crime.

This was a terrorism attack carried by a fanatical racist.

Where is the KKK? Why aren't they speaking out against these acts of terrorism?

Fox has blamed the deaths on gun control laws and an anti-Christian aggression.

Where did I make an excuse? I said he needs to have full accountability. There's no excuse. What he did was terrible. And yes, he is a racist. Where are the excuses?

He was not a member of the KKK, as far as has been reported. I blame the deaths on a racist POS.

sigh.....i was asking why the media gives guys like him the mental illness excuses. but minorities typically don't.

it's right there in my post. what's missing, however, is me accusing you of giving him that leeway.

blame the shooting on gun control laws?

what? Fox news man....

The entire situation is beyond horrifying and tragic. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. I'm rhetorically wondering how much hate has to be in a persons heart to go into a church and shoot people, or why God couldn't do anything to stop it from happening? Rest in peace to the deceased.

I read via Facebook that a news outlet reported that the boys father was weary of his sons behavior. Previously the kid had been banned from a local mall due to suspicious and stalking like behavior. Despite the signs that were there, the father got his son a gun for his 21st birthday anyway. It'll be interesting to see how deep this investigation goes and where the root of the problem is.

Want to hear a funny joke?

Fox news.

I thought the same thing last night when I flipped it on and the issue was being discussed.

If only the Church had a sign up that said "Gun free zone" right?

While I agree that gun policy could be stricter, gun control has zero to do with issues like this.

I agree with that 100%.

This is the kind of domestic terrorism that doesn't get the attention it REALLY deserves.

People sweep it under the rug as mental illness when in fact it's commonplace for this kind of hate filled racism to exist in many parts of this country (the general South being the worst).

Flying a confederate flag is no different than flying an ISIS flag.

and then we got this guy who doesn't make it any better :

NRA Board Member Blames Charleston Victim For His Own Death

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/18/3671649/nra-board-member-blames-charleston-victim-death/

NRA board member Charles Cotton blamed Clementa Pinckney, a victim of the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, for his own death. He also blamed Pinckney, the pastor of Emanuel AME and a state senator, for the deaths of the other eight people killed.
As a state senator, Pinckney supported tougher gun regulations and opposed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in churches. On TexasCHLForum.com, a message board, Cotton wrote that “Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.”

I called the guy a racist punk in my very first post, and I'm sure I will again before the conversation is done. I don't know whether it's something he said in the church or something they found on him or something he said after but I saw one report that said (and it was in quotes so I assume these were his exact words).. wanted "to start a civil war"... I have no problem describing this as racial terrorism or come up with your own word..

Who the hell would carry their gun into church?

I read somewhere else that he came into the church, and he sat and talked and prayed with them for an hour before he started killing people. He also told one lady that he was not going to kill her so she would be left to tell everyone what happened. He wanted to start a race war.

Just hope that peopple are not dumb enough to grant him his wish.

i understand that. i was just responded to that part of the post where you mentioned what you was hearing from the articles.

Not to make light of the situation, because I completely agree with you, can you imagine what the situation would look like had it been a white cop?

Well that guy is an idiot and is the reason the gun rights people are seeing the tide turn against them.

i think what helps is that those same cops put out a manhunt so fierce, and that the white lady had called into the FBI cause she spotted him.

i hate saying white lady, but minorities are seeing white lady and white cops go all full attack mode on this guy and it's going to help the overall situation.

My biggest problem with the articles so far are that they should be about two things.. facts and grief. Political opportunism has NO PLACE in this, not yet.

My other biggest problem is what comes up in my search results.. websites I've never heard of, websites that are 100% unashamed to show their bias one way or the other.. a whole lot of lunatics on all sides passing themselves off as "news"... it really clouds the discussion and makes it very hard to focus on what we should be focusing on..

But it's on the internet, it must be true!

Agree except for the part with the strikethrough. Racism is not mental illness. Mental illness is not racism. This guy was racist. And I also think he was mentally ill, ni that his mind clearly seems to operate in a substandard way judging off all the accounts of him as a child. People always knew there was something "off" about him. But I think it does not absolve him from the consequences of his actions. He needs to be punished with no leniency for whatever he's got wrong with him.

yes i agree.

this is a simple case of some POS racist who acted out on his thoughts. it could've happened anywhere else in the country.

i dunno what the confederate flag has to do with this either? why is this even related?

and another thing.

he was quoted on saying he was tired of blacks "raping" white women, and they are taking over,

so why not go to the hood and shoot up drug dealers or something? why a church?

then I misunderstood... you replying to me and including "and citizens" made me think you were including my comment. My mistake Swish.

As far as the media... I've only read fact-based reporting on the situation. I don't watch the news or and news channels on TV and tend to not read opinion pieces, so I haven't been exposed to people trying to shelter him with "mental illness." If that's going on, it's unconscionable and shows really poor judgment in my opinion.

I don't like the mentally ill defense either.

If you are "mentally ill" enough to be this type of danger to society, then you should be removed from society. Whether that is locked down, or capital punishment.

If you're smart enough to use a gun (acquiring ammo, loading it, using it) then you're not mentally ill. This was without a doubt a hate crime, and I think we could see rioting and violence should this kid get off the hook with a mentally ill plea.

Drug dealers shoot back, this racist coward felt relatively safe in a church.

And by now I would think you would know that the media's only purpose is to create excitement and sensationalize anything and everything. Reporting it as a "mentally ill white person" vs a "black thug" helps create drama in race relations, to perpetuate more news as people get all up in arms over the falsities and propaganda the media reports.

First of all, thinkprogress is an extremely liberal site and everything they produce should not be considered news.

I don't know where you get your news, but gun sales have been through the roof since this president came to office. I would almost put money on it that some high ranking democrats own stock in gun companies and are trying to make themselves money.

Actually, the media's purpose is to make money. The trick is finding those that make money while presenting the news honestly.

so you're saying that the NRA was right in his comments that the guy the opposed gun policies in the church is responsible for these deaths?

Yes, but for most it's easiest to sensationalize to draw in viewers which increases ad revenue/profit. Just like the most interesting story on the evening news is always last, to keep you tuned in until the end.