Charleston church shooting
The Charleston church shooting, also known as the Charleston church massacre, was an anti-black mass shooting and hate crime that occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in the southern United States. Among the fatalities was the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. All ten victims were African Americans. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in U.S. history and is the deadliest mass shooting in South Carolina history.
People mourning the deaths at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; image taken June 20 (three days post-shooting)
Dylann Roof entering Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church through a side door at 8:16 pm, as captured on CCTV
A prayer vigil at Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston South Carolina. 21 June 2015
A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers kill or injure multiple individuals simultaneously using a firearm. There is no widely accepted definition of "mass shooting" and different organizations tracking such incidents use different definitions. Definitions of mass shootings exclude warfare and sometimes exclude instances of gang violence, armed robberies, familicides and terrorism. The perpetrator of an ongoing mass shooting may be referred to as an active shooter.
Aaron Alexis holding a shotgun during the Washington Navy Yard shooting