Suspect specifically requested to sit beside slain pastor - Report says

oge okonkwo

June 19, 2015 2:44 PM

Survivors say a lanky young man with a bowl-shaped mop of hair entered and joined the group, which gathered in a cafeteria-like meeting room in Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church just after 8 p.m

Suspect confessed to shooting; South Carolina governor calls for death penalty

Report says over a dozen people had gathered to study Scripture Wednesday night: the pastor, a minister, a librarian and other longtime church members, the oldest in her late 80s.

A 5-year-old girl was the youngest at the prayer meeting — and its biggest miracle.

Survivors say a lanky young man with a bowl-shaped mop of hair entered and joined the group, which gathered in a cafeteria-like meeting room in Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church just after 8 p.m.

Identified as 21-yr-old Dylan Roof, the shooter wore a gray sweat shirt, rumpled green slacks and beat-up brown sneakers.

Still, he was welcomed, apparently without question, by the group.

New York Daily reports that photos obtained by CNN show Roof sitting in a plastic folding chair at a paper-strewn table. 26-yr-old Tywanza Sanders took some images just minutes before the maniac opened fire. Sanders was among the dead.

It was learnt Roof had asked specifically for the pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator, and chose a seat at his side.

Roof wouldn’t stir for almost an hour, a survivor told cops.

At one point, the pastor, in a green dress shirt and sitting at the table’s head, flashed a smile, a photo obtained by CNN shows.

An American flag hangs in the background.

It may never be known how closely Roof listened to the words of faith and salvation that filled the paneled room in the oldest AME church in the South.

At 9:05 p.m., as the meeting ended, police said, Roof stood, announced he was there “to shoot black people,” and unleashed hell.

oge okonkwo