Charleston police are still on the hunt for the suspect in a shooting attack at a historic African-American church which left nine people dead in South Carolina on Wednesday night.
According to the police, the incident is said to be a “hate crime”. The Charleston Police Department has also released the picture of the suspect as seen in the security camera footage.
According to an AFP report, the camera footage near the church shows a lanky young white man donning a grey sweater and dark blond or brown hair in a distinctive bowl-type haircut.
Police described the suspect to be in his twenties and stands 5 foot, 9 inches tall.
The suspect was seen leaving the church in a black sedan, adds the report.
Addressing a press conference, Charleston Police chief Gregory Mullen said in Wednesday`s shooting, eight people were killed inside the church, and another victim died at a trauma center shortly after. Several other people were wounded. Officials did not immediately release the names or any details of the victims.
“At this point, we have nine victims in this hideous crime that has been committed,” Mullen told journalists.
Describing the incident as a `hate crime`, Mullen told reporters about four hours after the shooting on Wednesday evening: “It is unfathomable that somebody in today’s society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives.”
Mullen added that a prayer meeting was going on at the church at the time of the shooting.
He also said that an all-clear had been sounded after an earlier bomb threat in the area of the church.
The shooting comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in America, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in recent months led to riots and a national debate on race.
On microblogging website Twitter, the Charleston police said the suspect, who opened fire at around 0100 GMT, is a clean-shaven slender white male, about 21.
As of 11:30 pm (0330 GMT), the suspect was still at large.
According to Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis, the shooting occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at around 9 pm local time.
The shooting`s designation as a hate crime means federal authorities will help with the investigation and could assist in an eventual prosecution.
A police chaplain was present at the scene of the shooting, and a helicopter with a searchlight hovered overhead as officers combed through the area.
