Washington, June 18, 2015: Nine people have been killed in a shooting incident at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, said the US Police on Thursday.
Search is on for the gunman.
Addressing a news conference, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said he would investigate the shooting as a "hate crime".
"I do believe it was a hate crime," Mullen told reporters about four hours after the shooting on Wednesday evening. “It is unfathomable that somebody in today’s society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
On microblogging website Twitter, the Charleston police said the suspect, who opened fire at around 0100 GMT, is a clean-shaven slender white male, about 21, and added they had no information to release yet about victims.
It was not immediately clear how many people had been shot, but the Charleston Post and Courier said eight people had been wounded.
As of 11:30 pm (0330 GMT), the suspect was still at large.
According to Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis, the shooting occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at around 9 pm local time.
A bomb threat was later reported near the scene of the church shooting, Charleston County Sheriff`s Office spokesman Eric Watson said. People who were gathered in the area were told by police to move back.
A police chaplain was present at the scene of the shooting, and a helicopter with a searchlight hovered overhead as officers combed through the area.
A group of several men stood in a circle in front of a hotel near the church. "We pray for the families, they`ve got a long road ahead of them," Reverend James Johnson, a local civil rights activist, said during the impromptu prayer service.
Police took a man with a backpack and a camera into custody, but later said they were still searching for a suspect in the shooting, television station WCIV reported.
Local broadcaster WCSC reported the FBI was on the scene. The FBI could not be reached immediately for comment.
The website for the church said it has one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the region. It was built in 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
The church is led by the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who also serves in the state senate, according to the church`s website.
Courtesy: Zeenews