The white gunman sought by police for shooting dead nine people during a bible study meeting at an African-American church in South Carolina last night has been named as Dylann Storm Roof.
Roof, who remains on the run since the horrific massacre at the 150-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, received a gun from his father for his 21st birthday in April, his family has revealed.
On Wednesday, he allegedly entered the church and joined the bible study group before suddenly opening fire an hour later. One survivor recounted how he reloaded his gun five times as he picked off his victims – killing three females and six males, including the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who is also a South Carolina state senator.
Pinckney’s cousin told NBC News that one of the survivors told her they had urged Roof to stop.
