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this is al jazeera america, and live from new york city i'm morgan radford. a huge manhunt is underway in south carolina for a gunman that entered an historic african-american church and opened fire. the victims were at a wednesday evening prayer meeting. it happened in downtown charleston at the emanuel african methodist episcopal church the oldest in the south, one what dr martin king took to the palpit. we are awaiting a conference from the police chief. we have john henry smith here with more. police wrapped up the press conference. what do they say about where we are in the search for the shooter. >> while the search is ongoing.

there are pictures. officials are hopeful that this leads to an arrest in last night's mass murder. >> there are multiple people down. >> reporter: reports of gun fire at the emanuel church at 9:05 wednesday, brought police racing to what turned out to be a grizzly scene. >> we were able to determine there were eight diseased... ..questions we'll identify you, don't shout questions to us returning live to a press conference from charles son south carolina about the shooting that killed nine victims at a moth difficulty church. let's -- meth difficulty church. let's look at it. >> last night at 9:05 dispatch rd a call about a shooting that occurred at the emanuel church. boston police units were dispatched and arrived at that location. when we did.

we identified eight victims in the church that suffered gunshot wounds. we told you that there were two victims transported to m u.s.c. and there was one victim transported to m u.s.c. and that individual is deceased as well. we have a total of nine victims involved in this tragic situation that occurred last night. of the victims, there are three males and six male victims in this tragedy. as we told you last night, we have a - we have a unified command set up that comprised of the charleston police department charleston county sheriff's office state lea n force. . federal bureau of investigation, alcohol, tobacco and firearms and other federal agencies working with us. we are committed, we are

determined, and we are definitely working right now with a number of agents and police officers in our region to identify the individual that we passed out to you about an hour ago, that is a suspect in this case. this is a situation that is unacceptable in any society, and especially in our society, in our city. we are committed to co what is necessary to bring the individual to justice. i'm committed and all the people working with us are committed to do whatever it takes to work as long as we have to our partners are committed, we are bringing in resources from washington d.c. from the fbi headquarters to help us. we set up a hot line as we mentioned earlier, 1800. we have agents and police officers manning that phone. we will continue to man the phone until we identified and arrested the suspect. it's critical that the members

of the community, who have seen the picture. vehicle as well as the suspect, to call law enforcement. this is a dangerous individual. he should not be approached by anyone call law enforce. if you recognise the individual or the car so we can take the appropriate action to address the situation. again, this is a dangerous individual, and do not want more people harmed trying to preach him, or trying to follow the vehicle if they see it. notify law enforcement and we'll address that. we are very concerned about the families of the victims. we have set up a family assistance center at the embassy streets in downtown charleston. we have members of the charleston police department victim advocacy unit and the fbi victim assistance unit as well.

i want to say this - from the time the call came in we had resources coming from all over the east coast. we have more resources coming in this morning from the fbi and other federal agencies. state law enforcement committed a number of resources - both the crime scene, investigative agents, and we are not leaving anything, any stone unturned. this tragedy that we are addressing right now is undescribable. no one in this community will ever for get this night. and as a result of that and because of the pain and because of the hurt that this individual has caused this community, the entire community, the law enforcement agencies that are

working on this are committed and we will catch this individual. the important thing for you as the media is to help us catch this executived outline. you have -- individual. you have the ability to get the picture and car out to places quickly. a broad perspective of media is here recollects social media, please help us to help our community first of all, thank you, chief mulens and members of the police department and members here the state, fbi, other jurisdictions, and the immediacy and the quality of the work of our law enforce.

agencies has been inspiring. this unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind. as chief mullens says this person is dangerous. we need every tip we can get to bring this person into custody as soon as possible. and, of course we'll make sure that he pays the price for this horrible act. in our community, which is a community together the people loving and respecting each other, it is a community that honours our religious united nations and respects the different cultures and beliefs.

we call the holy city all the church fires that reach up to the sky. including mother emanuel a.m.e. church where this horrific crime occurred last night. so of all communities, and in charleston charleston horrible hateful person go into a church and kill peel there to pray and worship with each other is something that is behind incomprehensible and is not explained. this is what we can do now. we can catch this no good

horrible person and see that he pays the price. and then what we will do and what this community has always done is we are going to put our arms around that church and that church family. this historic church in the african-american churches it is an important for religious and social pieces of a fabric of society here for a few hundred years. people come to these churches to pray and worship and support each other, help each other, and this historic church was impactly that. so what this community could do and i have seen this great community respond to challenges before you will see an

outpouring of love and assistance and kindness and help and these people these citizens, these families, and chief and i met with them last night, and hugged as many as we go. there were probably a couple of hundred in the families and friends, weeping and drought, mothers and grandmothers, and fathers, and grandfathers killed in their church. we are extended to them our love today we are committed to finding this hor ible scoundrel, but today this community will provide a best example of a

community coming together to help those grieving because of an unbelieveableeable event that has forever ruptured their family bond. we will help to heel them love them support them and that church as long as we live. we'll start over here. questions. yes, ma'am. >> reporter: do you have a (inaudible). >> from the victims that, will have to come from the coroner's office. the coroner is working now to try to get all of that information, and as soon as she can identify the family members, she'll put that information out. right now, our biggest concern is making sure the family members are communicated with first, okay. yes. >> reporter: a lot of the streets around the site have been opened. does that mean the suspect is

likely not in the downtown area? where do you think he may be? >> we don't have any information about a location. if we did, that's where we'd be. we need the community to be vigilant, which is why we got the information out about the vehicle and the picture. hopefully with the officers out, we'll be able to identify the vehicle and the suspect. yes, ma'am. >> reporter: this morning (inaudible). >> the individual was actually in the church attending a meeting that was going on there and stayed there almost an hour with the group before the actual event. >> reporter: the mayor said you met with the families. can you comment on the suspect that let a woman escape? >> we are not talking about that part of the investigation now. >> reporter: what about the (inaudible) cleared us out for a little bit and [ inaudible ] >> we made sure there wasn't a

bomb. we are following up on the leads. we are not sure if it was connected. >> reporter: you say the shooter [ unclear audio ] >> we are going to send out additional stills to you in a short period of time. i'm not going to comment on any kind of attitude or anything. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] there were three. yes, ma'am. >> reporter: can you tell us what type of weapon or gun that was used? >> we are not talking about the forensic piece right now, we'll do it later, but not right now. yes, ma'am. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]. >> we are not in a position to answer that. i don't know that, it's under investigation. as soon as we identify the individual, we may be able to answer that question. right now we don't know if anyone was targeted other than

the church itself. yes, ma'am. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] right. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] there's information that has been developed in the investigation. that would lead us to believe that. we are not going to put that out right now, if we do capture the individual, we want to make sure that we are getting real information from him not something that has been posted on the internet or either through a story. yes, sir. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] any credible tips in the last hour? >> we are getting phone calls in. i hope we are getting good tips. i know the phone calls are coming in. as soon as a phone call comes in, if it's legitimate, we are sending out teams of investigators. >> reporter: you said there was no reason to believe anyone was targeted. one thing you mentioned is families of the victims [ inaudible ] >> no, not police custody, victim assistance when you have a tragedy, one of the things you want to do is make sure you

offer assistance to the victims' families. it's a grief situation, and we have our victim advocate there to assist them to go through the process. >> i might just say that's part of police work. we have police chaplains and victims' assistants personnel on the payroll as well as volunteers. it's a huge group of trained people that can come to the fore as they did last night. it was an amazing site to see all there with all the family members working with them to get through the most difficult time of their lives. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: just to clarify, one of the first questions, are you saying you believe the gunman sat in the prayer meetings for about an hour? that's correct, that's what happened. >> reporter: do you identify him as a suspect, 21 years old. that's a specific number.

[ inaudible ] identify him at all, and do you know if [ inaudible ] >> we don't have any information specifically about the individual. that's what we are trying to develop now, in terms of the witnesses. as we develop the situation, we'll talk with the witnesses. right now we are trying to develop the information in terms of identifying the person. >> reporter: can you say [ inaudible ] >> again that's up to the coroner, and the state of south carolina. they are responsible for identifying not only the victims to the families but to the public. she'll identify those individuals. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] what we are doing is asking everyone to be village leapt. we don't know where this individual is wherever you are, that's why we are asking the

media to get the information out to law enforcement partners up and down the east coast and throughout the united states. we don't know where this individual is everyone needs to be children leapt and aware of their surroundings and if there's anything suspicious they need to call 911 and let law enforcement come out and investigate. >> reporter: do you have traffic cameras? >> investigators are going through all kinds of video, trying to identify private or public video. that is part of the investigation that will be ongoing for a while. >> reporter: following up on that question [ inaudible ] >> right. well, what i would say is that there's law enforcement officers throughout the area not only in the downtown area but throughout the region we'll be out working hard to make sure not only that we identify and arrest the suspect that was

involved in this situation, as well as making sure that all the people that live and visit here are safe. so we are working hard to do that. we'll continue to do it. we have lots of resources not only from the city of charleston charleston county fbi, s l.e.d. - we'll make sure the community is as safe as it can be. >> two more questions. >> reporter: how are you guys doing? it's been all night [ inaudible ] >> thank you for asking that question. the officers are - they are energized. they are tired but energized because they take this personnel. -- personal. they take someone coming into our city going into a church sitting with people that are praying and exercising their religious beliefs, and murdering them - we are - we are going to get through it. we'll keep pushing, and we are going to take care of our own.

but thank you for asking. right here. >> reporter: have you asked the survivors whether they know the shooter? >> that is part of the investigation. we talked with the survivors, and will continue to talk with the survivors, last question right here. >> reporter: you mentioned the investigators [ inaudible ] >> that's correct. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] other agencies [ inaudible ] >> right well basically what that does if it's a hate crime there's specific elements that could make it a federal prosecution, and one of the things that we look at when we do the types of investigations are motivation you know what is motivation behind the crime, and if it is, in fact a hate crime, and in this case there's no doubt in my mind that it is a hate crime, and what that does is allow us to work more closely with our partners from the federal prosecution as well as investigation. as we go through this we will

look at all the elements that meets the criteria for the u.s. attorney-general's office which i'm confident that it will. we have other options in terms of when we look at prosecution. thank you very much. we will be back and update you as we have information. okay. thank you so much all right, so we just heard from the police chief of charleston, that was greg mullen walking away from the podium and jos ep rhylie junior the mayor, they identified the victims as three males and six females. they mentioned in the state of south carolina it is the coroner's responsibility to release more information and details to the public. in terms of the suspect we know he's a white male in his early 20s, he is dangerous and warn the public not to approach him or his vehicle. interestingly they said he was in the church with the group, actually stayed for the prayer meeting for over an hour.

and we also heard greg mullen the police chief again say this was undescribable. no one in the community will forget the night, he said we'll catch the individual and take care of our own. >> in terms of the mayor, this is calling it a hate crime, and talked about the unique tapestry of the charleston community, calling it the holy city. he talked about the black search central to the social fabric of the community. i want to bring in john henry smith with the latest details. what did you think of the press conference? >> certainly there was new information, a break down of people killed - three males and six females. there was information last night that two were taken to the hospital, one expired at the hospital. now only one was taken to the hospital and died. that accounts for the nine people dead. i think the point that you just touched on was interesting. they both - this hearing from these two individuals, chief

mullen and the mayor, hearing sound bites that i have heard throughout the morning from onlookers to the situation, people from both sides of the political aisle, it seems, various demographic strata. apparently mullen emphasised that it affected the entire community. it seems like an attack on a church in particular really touches a nerve down there in the way an attack somewhere else would not touch a nerve quite as profoundly, although certainly with nine dying, it will touch a very strong and sensitive nerve. >> but attacking a church in the holy city as joseph riley mentioned was powerful because of the centrality. a lot of black politicians come from the black church it was a central point of mobilizing power, speaking truth to power. for a lot of black americans, it takes them back to places like

the 1963 bombing that killed four schoolgirls in alabama. this has been a common form of targetting the black community, because it punk tours the heart of that community. if you want to ko that community, this is where you'll go. >> we are coming off the shooting of walter scott, an unarmed black motorist. one of the people that led the prayer vigils the pastor the only person we confirmed was killed was pastor clementa pinckney. and he was a guy that after the shooting of walter scott, he championed body cameras for local police. a rising star in the democratic party, and a central figure in the black community in central carolina. >> a timely issue as we deal with police involvement and minority communities. john henry smith, don't go anywhere, we'll bring you the latest of what is happening in

charleston. join us then. stay with us on al jazeera. just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business.

>> shot dead and the government does nothing.

latest of what is happening in >> they teach you how to eliminate people? >> ya. >> we've done it and that is why we are there. >> my life is in danger. >> anyone who talks about the islamic religion is killed. >> don't miss the exclusive al jazeera investigation. >> i can't allow you not to go into that because that is your job. >> only on al jazeera america. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. it is 7:27 eastern. a manhunt is on in south carolina and beyond for a gunman that opened fire on a prayer group, happening at the historical emanuel emd church and police described the young man as a young white man in his 20s. >> this tragedy that we are addressing right now is unscribable.

-- undescribable. and because of the pain and hurt that this individual caused this community, this entire community, the law enforcement agencies that are working on this are committed and we will catch this individual. >> police this morning are warning the public that the gunman is armed and dangerous. this morning the search is resuming for a toddler that may have drowned in floodwaters in oklahoma. she and her father was caught in a creek when swept again. flood warns are in place as tropical depression bill moves through. it is reaching missouri with the same strength. starting on tuesday the storm inundated texas, with some places get a foot of water. we talked to some affected. >> reporter: flooded foot ways filled the town of elcampo after

tropical depression bill made an unexpected visit. law enforce. was tuck in a ditch. it was the latest blow to a town seeing a wave of storms passing through the area. the creek running through elcampo is normally dry. >> we experienced the last 24 hours, 9.5 inches of rain in that short period of time. >> least a foot and a half higher. the water has gone down tremendously. >> eugene a life-long resident of elcampo rushed to his daughter's house to rescue her and her family from rising floodwaters. >> they had to evacuate. did they have to get out quickly? >> yes, i told my son-in-law look at the running boards on the truck. they got their clothes, 10 minutes came back i said "look at the water" he said "god we better hurry." they helped to put the furniture on blocks. luckily the floodwaters narrowly

missed their home. emotions ran deep. >> it's rough. of course my family is very important. i have to make sure that everybody is safe and everybody is sound. >> reporter: down the road this yard has turned into a small lake. >> we could probably go fishing here. it's never this high. >> reporter: it's nowhere near the devastation striking central texas three weeks ago, dozens of homes flooded. more than a dozen people died during the round of memorial day storms. this time no lives have been lost but texas governor grech abbott warned resident to continue to be village leapt. >> this event is not over. there'll be a lot of rain fall still coming. there'll be potential tornados people need to be on the alert about the possibility of rising water. people, please do not drive into riding water. >> advice well taken by residents hope thatting it's