A 21-year-old man named Dylann Roof has been identified by the FBI as the suspect in the killing of nine churchgoers at the historic predominantly black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Thursday that Roof was apprehended by police in Shelby, N.C. Earlier Thursday, the FBI put out a bulletin, asking for tips and warning that the suspect is believed to be “armed and dangerous.”
WATCH:
According to a Facebook page that appears to belong to Roof, he is from Columbia, South Carolina and attended White Knoll High School. The page shows that Roof has 85 Facebook friends, including a number of black people.
Shelby, N.C. is about 4 hours away from Charleston, according to Google Maps.
The patches on his jacket in his Facebook photo have drawn notice: one appears to be a flag from apartheid-era South Africa, while another one appears to be the Rhodesian flag.
Reuters, citing an uncle, reported that Roof was recently given a .45-caliber pistol for his birthday.
A Producer at WLTX News19 posted a photo appearing to be of Roof sitting on the hood of a car with a “Confederate States of America” flag. The car looks similar to the one in surveillance photos from the scene of the crime.
SUSPECT IN #CharlestonChurchShooting caught in Shelby, NC. He's believed to have killed 9 ppl last night at a church pic.twitter.com/EZOKHYjMcU
— Megan Rivers (@MegMRivers) June 18, 2015
According to the Charleston Post and Courier, Roof “has been arrested twice in South Carolina as an adult, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. He was jailed March 1 in Lexington County on a drug charge and again on April 26 on a trespassing charge.”
Active manhunt underway to locate #Charleston shooting subject. Please review photos & report tips to 1-800-CALL-FBI. pic.twitter.com/F60TxFs4NC
— FBI (@FBI) June 18, 2015
According to police, a man opened fire on parishioners during a bible study Wednesday night, killing nine people including the church’s pastor, Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
Pinckney is also a Democratic state senator in South Carolina.