Victims of Charleston massacre are identified

Local officials in Charleston, S.C., have identified the nine people killed on Wednesday in a shooting at an African-American church.

{mosads}Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said the victims at Emanuel African Methodist Church (AMC) were:

• Clementa Pinckney, 41, pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Church and a South Carolina state senator.
• Cynthia Hurd, 54, the St. Andrews regional branch manager for the Charleston County Public Library System.
• Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a church pastor, speech therapist and coach of the track and field team at Goose Creek High School.
•  Tywanza Sanders, 26, who had a degree in business administration from Allen University, the college also attended by Pinckney.
• Ethel Lance, 70, a retired Gilliard Center employee who recently worked as a church janitor.
• Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime member of Emanuel AMC and Lance’s cousin.
• DePayne Middleton Doctor, 49, who retired in 2005 as Charleston County director of the Community Development Block Grant Program.
• Mira Thompson, 59, a pastor at Emanuel AMC.
• Daniel Simmons, Sr., 74, who died while en route to an area hospital.

Wooten’s announcement followed the arrest of the suspect in the shooting earlier on Thursday.

The suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was apprehended 250 miles away in Shelby, N.C. around 11 a.m., federal and local law enforcement officials said.

Roof allegedly uttered racist epithets before opening fire on Emanuel AME’s congregants during a Wednesday evening service.

The Department of Justice is now probing the incident for possible hate crime charges.