A gunman who opened fire killing nine people in a race-hate crime at an African American church in South Carolina reportedly let one woman escape so she could tell everyone else what happened.
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 at around 9pm 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