Lone gunman kills nine people at historic black church in US "hate crime"

A white gunman killed nine people at a historic African-American church in the US state of South Carolina, the city’s police chief said today, describing the attack as a “hate crime”.

The gunman – said to be a 21-year-old white man wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and boots – was still at large after the gruesome attack in Charleston. Officers swarmed across the city to try to find him.

Worshippers were attending a prayer meeting in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at 9pm on Wednesday, local time, when the gunman walked in and opened fire, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.

Eight victims were found dead in the church and a ninth person died after being taken to a hospital, Mullen said. One other person was wounded and receiving treatment. Several other people were wounded.

Officials did not immediately release the names or any details of the victims, but New York-based civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton said in a tweet that the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the church’s pastor and a member of the state Senate, was among those killed.

The shooting comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in America, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in recent months led to riots and a national debate on race.