Nine killed in South Carolina 'hate crime' shooting

An unknown gunman has killed at least nine people at a historic African-American church in the US city of Charleston, in what police called a hate crime.Several people were reported to have also been injured in the shooting on Wednesday evening, and police said the suspect remained at large.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley called the shooting "an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy".

The suspect was described as a 21-year-old white man wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and boots, Charleston police said in a message on Twitter.

Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis said the shooting occurred at the Emanuel AME Church around 01:00 GMT. He had no information on victims

  Source reporting from the US capital Washington DC, said that among the fatalities was the church pastor, Clementa Pinckney, who is also a state senator.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pinckney met with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited South Carolina as part of her presidential campaign.