Cynthia Littleton/Variety/
Update : Multiple news outlets are reporting that the suspected gunman has been taken into custody in North Carolina .
TV news crews and top anchors are descending on Charleston, S.C. , today to cover the hunt for a gunman who opened fire in a church Wednesday night, leaving nine people dead.
Police are calling the shootings of six women and three men at a historic black church, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church , a hate crime. The gunman has been identified as Dylann Storm Roof , 21, of Lexington, S.C. , according to the New York Times .
As details of the slayings spread Thursday morning, news organizations scrambled to get resources and personnel in place to cover the aftermath of the killings and law enforcement’s hunt for the gunman. The victims included the Rev. Clementa Pinckney , who was also a South Carolina state senator, according to the Times.
ABC’s David Muir and CBS’ Scott Pelley will anchor their evening newscasts tonight from Charleston . “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie will preside over ” NBC Nightly News’ ” coverage from the city. Guthrie is subbing this week for NBC News’ Lester Holt , who is on vacation.
The breaking news scramble comes on the same day NBC is expected to announce that Holt has been named the permanent “Nightly News” replacement for Brian Williams , who was suspended without pay in February amid the controversy over his on-air embellishments of his experiences while covering the Iraq war.
Cable news networks have gone virtually wall-to-wall with South Carolina coverage, which began around 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday . CNN has seven correspondents on the ground as of late morning, including Martin Savidge and Gustavo Valdes of CNN en Espanol.
Local law enforcement released surveillance footage of a white man believed to be the gunman entering the church. Local reports said the gunman sat in the church with parishioners for about an hour before opening fire. The Times cited reports that the gunman was quoted as saying: “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”
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