UPDATED: 12:30 p.m. ET
3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Suspect Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white male, is now in custody after hours at large.
Pastor Clementa Pinckney, who a state senator, was among the victims.
The DOJ's Civil Rights Division is launching a hate crime investigation into the shooting.
Nine people were killed at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday evening when a gunman opened fire on a prayer group before fleeing the scene.
Police said suspect Dylann Roof, who was captured on Thursday after an hours-long manhunt, sat in the prayer meeting for an hour before opening fire. Police arrested Storm during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, which is about 250 miles from Charleston.
The Department of Justice and the FBI are now launching a hate crime investigation into the shooting.
Three men and six women are dead. Eight died at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, police said, and another passed away at a local hospital. Three people survived the shooting.
"The only reason someone would walk into a church and shoot people that were praying is out of hate," said Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who described the scene as "the most heartbreaking ... I have ever witnessed in my life."
"I do believe this is a hate crime," added Gregory Mullen, Charleston's chief of police.
Police responded to reports of a shooting at the church, one of the largest and oldest black congregations south of Baltimore, just after 9 p.m. local time, where they found a number of the victims inside.
The victims
Pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator and well-regarded community leader, was among the victims, according to House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford.
Rev. Clements Pinckney, a SC legislator is among the 9 killed in SC church. I am reminded that he helped lead our prayer vigil for Scott.— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 18, 2015
Mullen declined to identify any of the victims.
The suspect
Authorities named Dylann Storm Roof as the primary suspect on Thursday morning. He is a 21-year-old white male with sandy blond hair. He ran from the scene of the shooting and was apprehended in the early afternoon after a citizen tipped off police to "suspicious activity," according to Greg Mullen, Charleston police chief.
Speaking at a news conference at 6 a.m. ET, police told reporters they had obtained surveillance videos of the suspect and his car. They released a flyer with Storm's image and appealed for people with information to get in contact. They identified him by name a few hours later.
Storm was free on bond in connection with recent arrests on drug, trespassing charges, the Post and Courier reports.
'If we're not safe in the church, God you tell us where we are safe!'
That fact that the shooting took place in a black church "raises questions about a dark part of our history," President Obama said during an address on the shooting Thursday afternoon.
"I’ve had to make statements like this too many times," Obama said. "Communities like this have had to endure tragedies too many times."
As the news spread throughout the local community, ministers and congregants of the church gathered in a prayer circle, holding hands and asking why, of all places, it was a church where people could be shot down.
"If we're not safe in the church, God you tell us where we are safe!" one yelled. "How can I take my child to church if a place of worship isn't safe?" asked another.
Today's @postandcourier front page #chsnews #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/uOZjcBO1jQ— Melissa Boughton (@mboughtonPC) June 18, 2015
South Carolina governor Nikki Haley issued a statement on Facebook saying she and her family were praying for the victims and families touched by the tragedy. "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," she said.
Other local officials, as well as presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, expressed their condolences for the victims and their friends and family on social media.
Heart is breaking for Charleston and South Carolina. My prayers are with Emanuel AME and Pastor Pinckney.— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) June 18, 2015
Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by the tragic events in Charleston.— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) June 18, 2015
Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all. -H— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 18, 2015
Bush, in South Carolina at the time of the shooting, canceled his Thursday event in Charleston. Clinton had left the state just hours before.
Ariel Bogle, Blathnaid Healy, Megan Specia, Brian Ries and Amanda Wills contributed to this report.