Amber Roof, sister of the Charleston, S.C., mass shooter Dylann Roof, called police to identify her brother as the suspect in the murder of nine African-Americans attending an evening bible class at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest black churches in the country.
Dylann Roof, 21, has reportedly confessed to police that he entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church Wednesday night, and shot nine people who were attending bible study at the church, reloading his gun five times in the process.
He reportedly told investigators that his aim was to start a “race war.”
Amber Roof, 27, was supposed to be married on Sunday. But she called off the wedding ceremony after news of the tragic shooting. She was set to tie the knot with U.S. Army Reserve Recruiter Michael Tyo, at the Mitchell House and Gardens in Lexington, S.C., according to the Daily Mail .
Amber got engaged to Michael Tyo, who has three children from a previous relationship, on November 1, 2014.
Her brother, Dylann, was not on the wedding list posted to her wedding profile on TheKnot.com, the wedding website where the couple posted their wedding invitation.
The list included several members of the family of the bride and the groom, who were listed variously as best man, ring bearer, flower girl, bridesmaid, and maid of honor.
Joe Roof, Amber’s grandfather, was listed to perform the ceremony.
Amber reportedly called the authorities Wednesday after she recognized her brother’s distinctive haircut in surveillance photos released by police to the media. She identified her brother to the authorities as the Charleston shooter.
After she had identified her brother as the man in the surveillance photo, police officers launched a manhunt that led them to Shelby, North Carolina.
Dylann was arrested in Shelby after a florist, Debbie Dills, alerted police about Roof’s presence at a location in town.
It remains uncertain why Dylann fled to Shelby, but it is known that his sister’s fiancé, Tyo, lives in a residential area only a few miles from where he was arrested.
Tyo has so far declined to speak to the media. He has reportedly moved his children and family out of the house in Shelby.
[Images: Getty; Daily Mail]