9 dead in shooting at South Carolina church, mayor says

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Worshipers enter Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., four days after a mass shooting that claimed the lives of its pastor and eight others.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

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People arrive for services at the Emanuel AME Church on Sunday in Charleston, S.C.

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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Patricia Bailey says a prayer at a memorial outside Emanuel AME Church on Saturday in Charleston, S.C. Thousands of mourners clutching red and white roses attended a vigil in the stunned city of Charleston on Friday to remember nine African American men and women shot dead by a suspected white supremacist.

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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Police tape outside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., after the mass shooting inside Wednesday.

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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People march in protest to the Confederate Museum in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday.

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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A framed photograph of one of the shooting victims is left with a message at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

(Curtis Compton / Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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Members of Emanuel AME Church announce that services and Sunday school will go ahead as scheduled Sunday, four days after the pastor and eight other people were shot to death.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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Allen and Georgette Sanders of McClellanville, S.C., pray Saturday morning outside Emanuel AME Church.

(Joseph Tanfani / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of people hold hands June 19 and sing”We Shall Overcome” during a prayer vigil for those killed Wednesday night at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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Thousands of people gather for a city-sponsored prayer vigil for the nine victims of the Emanuel AME Church shooting at the College of Charleston TD Arena.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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A woman weeps outside the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, June 19, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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Olina Ortega, left, and Austin Gibbs light candles at a sidewalk memorial in front of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

(David Goldman / Associated Press )

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Marie Goff wipes away tears during a prayer vigil at Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday for the victims of the previous day’s shooting at the city’s Emanuel AME Church.

(Grace Beahm / Associated Press)

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Keith McDaniel, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, is surrounded by others in prayer for the victims of Wednesday’s shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.

(TIM KIMZEY / Associated Press)

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The steeple of Emanuel AME Church rises above the street as a police officer tells a car to move as the area is closed off following Wednesday’s shooting.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

By Associated Press

June 17, 2015 9:43 PM PT

reporting from CHARLESTON, S.C. —

The mayor of Charleston, S.C., said Wednesday that nine people were killed in a shooting at a historic black church.

Police responded to the shooting Wednesday night at the church in downtown Charleston.

The shooting took place at the address of the Emanuel AME Church. The Post and Courier newspaper reported that the pastor of the church, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, was inside for a service at the time of the shooting. But it was unclear if the shooting took place inside the church.

Antjuan Seawright, a spokesman for state Senate Democrats, said he hadn’t heard from Pinkney or his family.

“We are praying,” Seawright said.

Police helicopters with searchlights were circling overhead in the area, while several pastors could be seen kneeling and praying across the street. Police moved members of the news media back away from the site due to what they called an “imminent” threat. They did not release any details.

The campaign of GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush sent out an email saying that due to the shooting, the candidate had canceled an event planned in the city Thursday.

The Emmanuel AME church is a historic African American church that traces its roots to 1816, when several churches split from Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal church.

One of its founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822. He was caught, and white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Parishioners worshipped underground until after the Civil War.

The shooting happened the day before the eighth anniversary of a fire at a furniture store that killed nine Charleston firefighters.