MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A shooting has occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, The Post and Courier reports, saying that the suspect is a 21-year-old male.
The Charleston daily cites unconfirmed reports as saying that eight people were shot at the church. Charleston police said on their official Twitter page that the shooting took place at around 9 p. m. US Eastern Time on Wednesday (01:00 GMT on Thursday).
There has been no official confirmation of any casualties.
Police are still looking for the gunman, The Post and Courier said, adding that the suspect is a 21-year-old white male, according to police spokesman Charles Francis.
The newspaper’s reporter Melissa Boughton said via Twitter that the FBI and chaplains were on the scene.
In a later Tweet Boughton said that police took a white man into custody and found a recording device on the ground where the man was stopped.
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church has one of the largest and oldest African American congregations south of Baltimore, Maryland, according to the official website of the church.
