. 9 dead in shooting in S.C. church, authorities say.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Police were searching for a suspect after a gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a church in downtown Charleston, CBS affiliate WCSC-TV reported.

Charleston police spokesman Charles Francis said the shooting took place around 9 p.m. at the Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street, as a meeting was
taking place.

Nine people died in the shooting, authorities say.

Charleston PD Chief Greg Mullen said, "I do believe it was a hate crime."

A few hours after the shooting, authorities began clearing the area after a bomb threat was called in to police dispatchers.

An Associated Press reporter on the scene says police helicopters with searchlights circled overhead in the area, as a group of pastors prayed across the street.

Francis described the suspect as a clean-shaven white male with a slim build, approximately 21 years old, who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, jeans, and boots.

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 worshiped underground until after the Civil War.

This is a developing story.
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