15 Facts About Dylann Roof, Charleston Black Church Shooter

We reported earlier about a white man opening fire after walking into an African-American church in Charleston, SC on Wednesday evening. The shooter was at large until a few hours ago.

Here’s an update on all that we know about Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof.

1. The 21 year from Lexington, SC has been taken into custody.

2. He has an arrest history for trespassing, awaiting moderation. Also, for possession of a controlled substance on March 3.

3. He has a confederate flag on his license plate.

4. Roof’s father gave him a .45 caliber pistol for his birthday.

5. A peer from his high school described him as “kind of wild” and reported “he used drugs heavily”.

6. Roof  was not an outcast at his high school and made “a lot of racist jokes” according to his classmates.

7. Roof told the church “I have to do it. You’re raping our women and taking over the country. You have to go, according to a witness, right before the shooting.

8. Dylann Roof attended bible study for an hour before the attack.

9. A total of 9 people have died and 3 others are still injured as a result of this shooting.

10. Among the dead is Reverend Clementa Pickney, a state senator.

11. The church Roof targeted is a historically black church. MLK made stops there during the Civil Rights Movement.

12. Roof wore apartheid-era flags on his jacket.

13. Police have declared this a hate crime.

14. Roof “allowed one witness to survive” so she could tell other people what he did, according to several reports.