Nine people left dead including a state senator. Just a short time ago, i spoke to another senator here who confirmed to me the pastor of this Historic Church, Clementa Pinckney has died. We are hearing that this potential suspect could still be in the charleston area. There are a lot of moving parts here. Right now its still unclear what was the motive. What would compel somebody to carry out this attack. But we understand it was carried out during a bible study session. Also what were told from state senator kipson is that the pastor at this church just hours before, was debating the budget saying he needed to come to a meeting here at this church a very important meeting. And he was here when this senseless tragedy was taken out. Well take you to the press conference now where we will hear from the police chief and hear more details. First of all, i want to briefly go over the facts we started with last night and well add some things as we go along. And i think as you have already been told at the conclusion of the comments well start to my right. If you have questions, well identify you. Please dont shout questions out to us. I want to make sure we answer your questions logically and so that everybody understands them. Last night at approximately 9 05 the Charleston County consolidated dispatch received a call for a shooting that occurred at the Emanuel Ame Church in downtown charleston. Charleston police were immediately dispatched and arrived at that location. When we did, we initially identified eight victims inside of the church that had suffered gunshot wounds. Earlier we told you that there were two victims that were transported to musc. There was actually one victim that was transported to musc and that individual is deceased as well. So we have a total of nine victims that were involved in this very tragic situation that occurred last night. The victims, there were three males and six female victims in this tragedy. As we told you last night, we have a unified command that has been set up that is comprised of the Charleston Police department the Charleston Sheriffs Office state Law Enforcement division federal bureau of investigations alcohol, tobacco and firearms and other agencies that are 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 one hour ago that is the suspect in this case. This is a situation that is unacceptable in any society, and especially in our society and our city. We are committed to do whatever is necessary to bring this individual to justice. And i am committed and all the people that are 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. The fbi headquarters to help us. We have set up a hotline, 1800callfbi. We have agents and Police Officers manning that phone. We will continue to man that phone until we have identified and arrested this suspect. As critical as it is for the members of the community who have seen the picture of the vehicle as well as the suspect call Law Enforcement. This is a very dangerous individual. He should not be approached by anyone. Call Law Enforcement if you recognize the individual or the car so that we can take the appropriate action to address this situation. Again, this is a very dangerous individual and we dont want more people harmed trying to approach him or trying to follow the vehicle if they see it. Notify Law Enforcement and we will address that. We are also very concerned about the families of the victims. We have set up a Family Assistance Center at the Embassy Suites in downtown charleston. We have members of the charleston advocate unit and those from the victims assistant unit as well. From the time this call came in we have resources coming from all over the east coast. Weve got more resources that are coming in this morning from the fbi and other federal agencies. State Law Enforcement division has committed a significant number of resources, both their agents we are not leaving any stone unturned. Its a tragedy that we are addressing right now and its undescribable. No one in this community will ever forget this night. And as a result of that and because of the pain and because of the hurt that this individual has cost this community, this 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 individual. You have the ability to get his picture, to get his car out to places quickly. Social media, please help us to help our community. First of all, i thank you, chief mullen and members of the Police Department and to all the departments who are here from the state, the fbi, the county and the jurisdictions. The quality of the work about Law Enforcement agencies has been inspiring. This is an unfathomable and unspeakable act. How somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind this person is dangerous and we need every step we can get to bring this person into custody as soon as possible. And, of course well make sure that he pays the price for the horrible act. In our community, which is a community to gather, people understand and respect each other. It is a community that honors our religious institutions and respect the different cultures and beliefs. Including the ame church where this horrific crime occurred last night. So in charleston you have this horrible person that goes into the church there to pray and worship with each other is something that is beyond uncomprehensible and not explained. But this is what we can do. We can catch this nogood, 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 people in our churches. And the african churches are social pieces of the fabric of society here for a few hundred years. People come to these churches to pray and worship and to support each other, to help each other. And this Historic Church was exactly that. So what this community will do and i have seen this Great Community with challenges before. You will see the nightassistance and kindness and help. And these citizens and families and the chief and i met with them last night, and we hugged as many as we could. There were probably a couple hundreds in there, families and friends weeping and distraught. Mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers killed in their church. And we extended to them from our community our love. So today we are committed to find g finding this horrible scoundrel, but today we are going to this community is going to provide the best example of a Community Coming together to help those grieving because of an unbelievable event that forever ruptured their family bond. And we will work to heal them love them and support them. In that church as long as we live. Well start right here. Questions . Yes, maam. [ inaudible ] as soon as she can identify the family members, shell put the information out. But right now, obviously, our biggest concern is making sure that family members are communicated with first. Okay . Yes, sir. Reporter a lot of the streets around the site have been open. Does that mean the suspect is not in the area . We dont have any information about any specific location. If we did, thats where we would be. So we need for the whole community to be vigilant. Thats why we got the information out about the vehicle and the picture. Hopefully with all the officers that we have out in the community and the region we hope to identify the suspect and this vehicle. 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. Yes, sir. Reporter the mayor said can you talk about the suspect leapting one woman escape . We are not going to talk about that part of the investigation right now. Reporter how about following up on the bomb threat any more details on that . We made sure there was not a bomb last night and we are still following up on the leads. We are not sure exactly if theres a connection right now, but thats certainly something that were following up on. Yes, sir. Reporter you saw the shooter in the surveillance can you describe his demeanor . We are going to send out some additional stills to you in a very short period of time. Im not really going to comment on any kind of attitude or anything. Yes, maam. Reporter do you have a number of survivors . There were three. Yes, maam. Reporter can you tell us what type of weapon he used or gun . We are not talking about the forensic piece. Well do that later but not right now. Yes, maam. [ inaudible ] we are not in the position to answer that question. I dont know that. Its still under investigation. As soon as we identify either the individual that we can talk to him, i might be able to answer that question but right now we dont know if anyone else was targeted other than the church itself. Yes, maam. [ inaudible ] reporter what else were you going off of . Theres been information that developed in the investigation that would lead us to believe that. We are not going to put that out right now because if we do capture the individual we want to make sure during our interview process that we are getting real information from him, not something that has been posted on the internet or through story. Yes, sir. [ inaudible ] we are getting phone calls in. I know that the phone calls are coming in. As soon as the phone calls are coming in if legitimate we are sending out teams of investigators. Reporter you just said theres no reason to believe anyone was targeted. One thing you did say was the family members were being covered by Police Protective Services . Victim assistance. Whenever you have a tragedy, you want to make sure that you offer asis the answer to the victims family members. Its a grief situation and our victim advocates there will assist them throughout this process. Im just going to say thats an important part of police work. So we have police chaplains, victim as is a tants. Personnel on payroll as well as volunteers. So its a huge cadamount of people. It was an amazing sight to see all the officers there with the family members and working with them to get through the most difficult time of their lives. This is the latest information we have. It was from South Carolina authorities including the police chief there in charleston as well as charlestons mayor. And they did share with us new information. At 9 05 the Charleston Police department received a phone call with a shooting at this Historic Church. They said nine people were killed six of them men, three of them women. They have set up a center for families desperate and grieving right now. And they also talked a little bit more about what happened during that hour between 8 00 and 9 00. They believe the suspect entered the church at 8 00 and stayed in the church. It sounded like he participated somehow in the prayer group. He was there in the prayer group for an hour before the Charleston Police got those terrible phone calls to rush to the scene. We want to bring in now South Carolina state senator marlon kimpson, senator, we are so sorry for the loss your community is going through this morning. Thank you for your condolences. What can you tell us about the only victims name that we know at the moment being this pastor Clementa Pinckney one of your colleagues there in the senate. What can you tell us about him . Well, he was a giant legend. He was the moral part of the state senate. When we would have difficult times and would be at an impasse discussing major pieces of legislation, it was senator pinckney who brought a sense of calmness to the body so that we could collectively negotiate towards a success fulful end. We are current ligating the budget so both the house and the senate was in session. But before the meeting ended, he indicated to me that he had a very Important Church meeting to attend in the state capital. So i was aware he was at a meeting in charleston and not in columbia at the time of the shooting. When i learned around 9 30 from the chair of the county council, i immediately called senator pinckney but there was no answer. When i eventually made it over to the victims Assistance Center at the Embassy Suites i did have a brief conversation with his wife and his two daughters. And we are asking the nation for prayer for the city of charleston and for all the victims of this horrific tragedy. What a loss. Everything we have heard about this pastor is that he was the pillar of the community and a voice of solace for people there. Can you tell us anything more about the other victims . Do you know who they were . Reporter well, other the description i was listening to from chief mullen other than the descriptions he announced, i dont really have any more details. I do know that there were a number of family members there. I do know one of the biggest pieces of legislation in this session, the body camera deal we were getting some opposition. And he gave a speech on the senate floor and talked about violence. But he talked about unity and the General Assembly the need to send a melszage to the rest of the nation that we would react in the aftermath of a shooting. And that is what is so ironic about this tragedy. Senator, we want to talk about the crime scene, which could not be more historically significant. This is the historic emanuel african methodist episcopal church. There was a prayer meeting going on at 8 00 p. M. There last night. Why do you think anyone would target that church . I have no idea. And so im hoping that Law Enforcement can bring this shooter to justice and explore. But i do believe this is a hate crime. Anyone of any race who goes into a church and commits this act has hate in his heart. And we are resilient people in charleston. We will rebound and move forward, but i think we have to collectively as a state embrace that there is not we have to bring this forward to the legislative agenda. And when the suspect is captured we need to feather out what was in his state of mind when he committed this horrific crime. Senator, there was a lot going on in charleston last night when this happened. Hillary clinton was about a mile away. She was having a political event there in charleston. Jeb bush was supposed to be having his own event there today but since canceled it because of the tragedy. Do you make anything of the timing of this crime . Reporter i dont want to speculate. Obviously, you know in charleston we have a president ial primary coming up. So both republicans and democrats are coming through the state. And this is one of the most active elaborate bases, but thats not a unique thing to charleston charleston. There was a unique fire to charleston years prior and we lost nine firefighters. So its ironic that the shooter killed nine people and just years ago on this same day. I cant tell you what was in the shooters state of mind only that there was hate in his heart. In fact the dr. Martin Luther King Center in georgia put out a powerful statement about this early this morning. In which they said we believe that nonviolence is not just about our physical response but includes our social media communication. They are urging everyone even on social media, to keep a level head. They went on to say we have to defy hate with truth and love. They are calling for people to transcend the hate but that is easier said than done. What are you telling your constituents saying this morning . We are preaching patience and be asking the community to come together. In fact last night a group of ministers and Community Members led prayer right behind me. Thats what well be doing for the better part of the day, but let me be clear, we want to come away with an agenda to reduce gun violence. We just recently debated a deal against the General Assembly to those who use their hands in the physical abuse of domestic victims. And most of this was protecting the rights of gun owners to have guns. We must make getting guns out of the hands of bad people in the legislative agenda and thats what i intend to do when session goes back in january. State senator marlon kimpson, thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you. You are going to see this online and should circulate it. Thats what the authorities want you to do. Hes the man who entered a bible study, stayed there for an hour according to authorities and then opened fire killing nine people. He may have said things inside as well that show why he wanted this to happen and what he wanted people to say. Were going to stay on this story and talk with the head of the naacp next. Remember this picture circulating around. People in prayer on a wednesday evening, obviously, the most evil occurred possible. Verizon say neversettle. Tmobile agrees. Never settle for verizons overpriced gimmicks. Try the uncarrier riskfree for 14 days youll love it, or well pay for you to go back. Welcome back. We are following breaking news. Theres an intense manhunt underway for the man who killed nine people inside a charleston South Carolina church. The naacp released a statement over the massacre and understandably so. Joining us live from palo alto is the naacp president Cornell William brooks. Good to have you on the show but not for this reason. We read the statement that came out. What is your understanding of why this happened . Well, first of all, let me extend condo