The suspect in the Charleston murders of nine churchgoers, including its pastor, has reportedly been captured in Shelby, North Carolina, three hours from Emmanuel AME church.

Twenty-one-year-old Dylann Roof, who reports say sat in on the prayer meeting for an hour before opening fire, has one felony record for drugs and one misdemeanor for trespassing, and no other records against him. Roof reportedly received the gun he used in the attack as a birthday present.

Chief Mullen says shooter sat in prayer meeting at church for about an hour, then opened fire. 9 killed, 3 survivors. #CharlestonShooting

— Melissa Egan (@MelissaWDAM) June 18, 2015

She says church members tried talking to gunman. He said "You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go."

— Lauren Morrison (@MWLaurenM) June 18, 2015

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks said in a prepared statement that the gunman is a “coward.”

“The NAACP was founded to fight against racial hatred and we are outraged that 106 years later, we are faced today with another mass hate crime. Our heartfelt prayers and soul-deep condolences go out to the families and community of the victims at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church,” Brooks said in a statement. “The senselessly slain parishioners were in a church for Wednesday night bible study. There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture. Today I mourn as an AME minister, as a student and teacher of scripture, as well as a member of the NAACP.”

Please keep the victims, their families, their friends, and South Carolina in your thoughts and prayers at this time of tragedy.

Victory Girls will update as further information is released.

UPDATE [9:40 am]: Governor Nikki Haley spoke out on the shootings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7elw5ewEzw

Further info: On Dylann Roof’s prior arrest, in his pocket was found suboxone, a maintenance medication for opiate addiction, reportedly for prescription drug withdrawal and less potent than methadone.

UPDATE [10:00 am]: Naturally, Mr. Obama took this opportunity to call for gun control, rather than a ban on liberals’ gun-free zones:

Never let a good crisis…