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Nine people were killed when a white man opened fire at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports.
Here's what we know so far:
1. What happened? Police said a white man entered the Emanuel AME Church and stayed there for nearly an hour before he began shooting at a prayer meeting about 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to the AP and The Post and Courier. Eight victims were killed at the scene and another died at the hospital, police told CNN. The shooter was captured Thursday in Shelby, North Carolina.
>> PHOTOS: Shock, grief after 9 killed at historic black church in Charleston
2. What do police know about the suspect? The suspected gunman is a 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof. He was arrested four hours away in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
>> RELATED: 9 killed in mass shooting at AME church in Charleston, S.C.
3. Have the victims been identified? Nine people were shot and killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston Wednesday. The victim's identities became known as families were notified. The full list can be found here.
>> RELATED: Who were the victims of the Charleston church massacre?
4. The incident is being considered a hate crime. "This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience," Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said. "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, and I can assure you that we're going to do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up and to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."
5. The church where the shooting occurred has a rich history. Emanuel AME Church, which dates back to about 1816, is known as "one of the oldest and largest black congregations south of Baltimore," The Post and Courier reports. Denmark Vesey, a founding member, attempted to lead a slave rebellion in 1822, but white landowners caught him and burned the church in retaliation, according to the AP. The congregation worshiped underground until 1865.
Several historic figures have spoken at the church, including Booker T. Washington in 1909 and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1962, the Washington Post reports. Coretta Scott King reportedly led a march there in 1969.
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