With the church shooting suspect identified as Dylann Storm Roof, Charleston is now asked to be on the lookout. Witnesses of the Charleston shooting are also explaining what the motive for attacking Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church might be.
[Update] Reports say Roof was caught by authorities .
In a related report by the Inquisitr , another man named Thomas Robert Shewtzuk was apparently another potential Charleston shooting suspect.
Details explaining why Dylann Storm Roof would attack a Charleston church are rare, but officials believed from the start that it was a potential racial hate crime.
“The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley. “It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice… This is one hateful person.”
Sylvia Johnson is the cousin of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a victim of the Charleston shooting , and she says a survivor told her that Roof reloaded his gun five times during the attack, and that the Reverend tried to convince him to stop.
“[Dylann Roof] just said, ‘I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country,’ ” Johnson said, according to Reuters .
All the Charleston shooting victims, including the church’s pastor, were black. Six of those killed were female and three male. Roof allegedly left one victim alive on purpose, claiming he wanted others to describe what happened during the church shooting.
It is possible that Roof was referring to black rape statistics located in the report called the “ Criminal Victimization in the United States, Statistical Tables .” The report described the “percent distribution of single-offender victimizations, by type of crime, race of victim, and perceived race of offender.” Based upon the statistics located in Table 42, some have asserted that blacks rape white women many times more than whites rape black women, although this claim is controversial.
Dylan Storm Roof’s Family
Amy Roof, Dylann’s mother, has declined to do any interviews. Roof’s uncle, Carson Cowles , says Dylann was given a.45-caliber gun by his father as a 21st birthday present in April. The uncle also believes his nephew was too introverted.
“Nobody in my family had seen anything like this coming,” Cowles said. “I said, if it is him, and when they catch him, he’s got to pay for this. I said he was like 19 years old, he still didn’t have a job, a driver’s license or anything like that and he just stayed in his room a lot of the time.”
As for a description of Dylann Storm Roof , Charleston authorities have described him in this manner.
“The following subject is wanted for the shooting that occurred in Charleston at the Emanuel AME Church. Subject is Dylann Storm Roof w/m 4/3/1994 5’9? 120 lbs. The subject should be driving a 2000 Hyundai Elantra GS, SC registration LGF330. The vehicle is dark-colored. Subject should be considered armed and dangerous and caution should be used if seen. “
The suspect was seen leaving the church in a black four-door sedan, according to authorities.
“The vehicle you will see has a very distinctive front license plate,” Mullen added. “No one in this community will ever forget this night and as a result of this and because of the pain and the hurt this individual has caused this entire community, the law enforcement agents are committed and we will catch this individual.”
Speaking about Dylan Storm Roof, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the motive was really about being “filled with hate and with a deranged mind.”
[Image via Twitter ]