A white gunman opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday night, killing 9 people in what officials describe as a hate crime. The suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, was captured by police in North Carolina on Thursday.
Suspect: 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof
Names of victims released: At a press briefing, Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten released names and ages of each of the 9 victims of Wednesday’s church shooting:
• Cynthia Hurd, 54, a manager with the Charleston County Public Library system.
• Ethel Lance, 70, a retiree who recently worked as a church janitor
• Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, a South Carolina state senator and pastor at the church
• Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime member of the church
• Depayne Middleton Doctor, 49, former Charleston County community development director
• Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a church pastor, speech therapist and a high school girls’ track coach
• Myra Thompson, 59, a pastor at the church
• Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., 74, another pastor at the church
• Tywanza Sanders, 26, a 2014 graduate of Allen University, where Pinckney was also an alum
Autopsies will be performed on each victim, Rae said.
“It is obvious all these individuals suffered gunshot wounds,” she added, “and that is how these individuals died.
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