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A five-year-old girl also survived by playing dead after the suspect, a white man in his twenties, stormed a weekly bible study group at the 150-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston and opened fire on the room.
Eight of the victims died at the scene, and one later in a hospital. At least one injured person is being treated in a hospital. Rev. Clementa Pinckney, pastor of the church and South Carolina state senator, is among the dead and his sister has also reportedly been shot.
The city is now on lockdown as a police in bullet-proof vests launch huge manhunt to find the killer, who entered the church and sat down quietly before suddenly standing up and opening fire.
According to Dot Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP, a female survivor told her family members the gunman came into the church at around 9pm.
Mr Scott told the Post and Courier that he told the woman she could escape and said he was letting her live so she could tell the world what happened.
Meanwhile, family members who were being briefed by chaplains after the shooting reportedly said that a five-year-old girl survived the attack after she was told to play dead by her grandmother.
It has been suggested that the shooting was timed to coincide with two large political rallies in the city, as just hours before Rev Pinckney met with Hillary Clinton as part of her presidential campaign and Jeb Bush was also due to visit Charleston today but his appearance has now been canceled.
Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen said in a news conference shortly after the incident: 'This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience… It is senseless, unfathomable…we are going to do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up, to make sure he does not hurt anyone else…'
He said he believes the shooting was a hate crime.
Officers also investigated a possible bomb threat after the shooting, but several hours later gave the all-clear.
The suspect is described as a clean-shaven, 21-year-old white male and is believed to be wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and Timberland boots.
Police were seen soon after taking a man matching the description into custody.
However, the man was released and the Charleston Police Department tweeted that the gunman was still at large.
Local pastor Thomas Dixon told CNN around 11.30pm that the scene was 'very bad.'
'Apparently the person just entered the church and opened fire.
'That part has not been fully articulated on what happened yet ... they are still looking for the suspect,' he said.
Dixon also told NBC News that a bible study session is likely to have been going on at the time of the shooting.
He said the church holds the sessions every Wednesday.
A heavy police presence remained outside the church and a helicopter was seen assisting law enforcement on the scene in the hours following the shooting, FOX reports.
At least six ambulances were seen in the area of the shooting.
'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.'
The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area.
The officer has been charged with murder, and prompted South Carolina lawmakers to push through a bill helping all police agencies in the state get body cameras.
In a statement, Gov. Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence on religious places.
'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,' Haley said.
Soon after Wednesday night's shooting, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street.
Community organizer Christopher Cason said he felt certain the shootings were racially motivated.
'I am very tired of people telling me that I don't have the right to be angry,' Cason said. 'I am very angry right now.'
Even before Scott's shooting in April, Cason said he had been part of a group meeting with police and local leaders to try to shore up better relationships.
According to the church's website, Emanuel AME Church -- often referred to as 'Mother Emanuel' -- is the oldest AME church in the south and has one of the largest black congregations south of Baltimore, Maryland.
The 150-year-old church played an important role in the state's history, including the slavery era and the Civil Rights movement.
It has been reported that Jeb Bush, 2016 presidential candidate, cancelled a planned trip to South Carolina and the state legislature has postponed a sitting planned for Thursday.
DailyMail
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