In his confession to the police, the shooter who killed nine people at the South Carolina church said that he "almost didn't go through with it because everyone was so nice to him,"
according to NBC News.
Dylann Roof, the suspect in the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on Wednesday, told police that despite his reservations, he decided that he had to "go through with his mission," NBC reported.
Two sources told NBC News that 21-year-old Roof confessed to the shooting when he was arrested by police.
One survivor told a relative that during Roof's rampage, he said that African-Americans are "taking over our country." Roof confessed to investigators that he wanted to start a race war,
CNN reported Friday.
Roof, who is white, also told investigators that he bought the .45-caliber handgun he used to kill the three men and six women at the church, including pastor and State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, at a Charleston gun store.
His admission conflicted a statement made by a senior law enforcement official, who said Roof's father bought him a firearm for his birthday.
Officials arrested Roof, who is from Lexington, South Carolina, after a 14-hour manhunt, tracking him down in Shelby, North Carolina, which is located about 220 miles north of the shooting site. He was driving the same car shown in a surveillance video from the church.
A tip from a passing motorist, who spotted the car and its South Carolina plates, and then followed Roof for 35 miles while updating authorities, was key to his arrest, CNN reported.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.