The man suspected of shooting dead
nine people at an African-American church in Charleston has been charged
with nine counts of murder and one weapons possession charge, police
say.
Suspect Dylann Roof, 21, is due to make his first court appearance on Friday.Police are treating the killings at the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday night in South Carolina as a hate crime.
He was arrested the following day more than 200 miles away in North Carolina and then flown back to Charleston.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said Mr Roof should face execution.
"We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty," she told NBC News.
Mr Roof's first court hearing is set for 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT), but it is likely he will appear via a video feed and not in person.
The victims of the shooting included a state senator.
The city's mayor Joseph Riley called the massacre an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil".
He said that while the community had faced challenges, nothing in the past century matched this shooting.
First Lady Michelle Obama, who is travelling in Italy noted the particular horror associated with the shooting taking place in a church.
"We have seen too many tragedies like this," Ms Obama said. "I pray for a community that I know is in pain with the hope that tragedies like these will one day come to an end."
The victims
- Cynthia Hurd, 54
- Rev Clementa Pinckney, 41
- Rev Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45
- Tywanza Sanders, 26
- Ethel Lance, 70
- Rev Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49
- Susie Jackson, 87
- Rev Daniel Simmons Sr, 74
- Myra Thompson, 59
"I saw the pictures of him with the bowl cut. I said, 'I've seen that car for some reason.' I look over, and it's got a South Carolina tag on it," florist Debbie Dills told the Shelby Star.
She followed Mr Roof for 25 miles until police made the arrest.
Charleston County Coroner Rae Wilson said: "The suspect entered the group and was accepted by them, as they believed that he wanted to join them in this bible study".
Local media reports that Mr Roof sat with the worshippers for nearly an hour before perpetrating the massacre.
More details have been emerging about the 21-year-old, with one acquaintance saying he had complained that "blacks were taking over the world".
When Roof was identified as the suspect, a photo emerged showing him standing in a wooded area wearing a jacketed emblazoned with flags from apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia - now black-led Zimbabwe.
Whether Mr Roof had a connection to any of the 16 white supremacist organisations that operate in South Carolina is not clear.
However, the massacre in one of the nation's oldest and most prominent traditionally black churches has served as a reminder that black churches have long been a target for violence throughout the history of US race relations.
Charleston officials are planning a prayer vigil for Friday evening.
