The Associated Press

3:35 a.m. (EDT)

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen says the FBI will be involved in the investigation of a shooting at a historic black church that killed nine and is being called a hate crime.

Mullen said the FBI would aid the investigation while speaking at a news conference that was also attended by FBI Special Agent in Charge David A. Thomas.

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says that among those killed at Emanuel AME Church was the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney.

Authorities are still searching for the shooter, who's described as a white male in his early 20s.

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3 a.m. (EDT)

A South Carolina legislative leader says the church's pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, is among those killed in a shooting at a historic black church in downtown Charleston that authorities are calling a hate crime.

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says Pinckney was killed along with eight others in the Wednesday night shooting at Emanuel AME Church.

Authorities are still searching for the shooter, who's described as a white male in his early 20s.

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1 a.m. (EDT)

Charleston police say nine people have been killed in a shooting at a historic black church in what authorities intend to investigate as a hate crime.

Police Chief Greg Mullen says eight people were found dead Wednesday at Emanuel AME Church and another person died later at the hospital.

Mullen says a prayer meeting was going on at the church at the time of the shooting.

The shooter, described as a white male, was not yet in custody.

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12:45 a.m. (EDT)

Mayor Joseph P. Riley has confirmed to The Associated Press that police have told him nine are dead in a shooting at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

Riley said he will release more details shortly at a news conference with Charleston police.

Police were still looking for the suspect in the Wednesday night shooting at Emanuel AME Church.

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12:30 a.m. (EDT)

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has responded to the shooting in downtown Charleston.

"While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another," she said in a statement early Thursday morning.

Police were still searching for a white male suspect.

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12:09 a.m. (EDT)

The Post and Courier newspaper reports that Mayor Joe Riley has confirmed there are fatalities in a shooting that occurred at the site of a church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

Riley called the Wednesday night shooting "an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy."

An Associated Press reporter on the scene said police were moving members of the media on the site back because of an "imminent" threat.

GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has canceled Thursday events in the area because of the shooting.