Charlston comp 1.jpg these are the victims of the charleston shooting
The victims: (Top L across) Cynthia Hurd, 54, a librarian; teacher Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, a church pastor and a state senator; Susie Jackson, 87; DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Myra Thompson, 59; Tywanza Sanders, 26, a recent graduate of Allen University; Ethel Lee Lance, 70 and; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74

The world is paying tribute to the lives of nine people who were gunned down during a South Carolina prayer meeting.

The victims have been named as: Cynthia Hurd, 54, a librarian; Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, a church pastor and a state senator; Tywanza Sanders, 26, a recent graduate of Allen University; teacher Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lee Lance, 70; Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74 and; Myra Thompson, 59.

They were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has strong historical links to the black community.

Tributes have been laid outside the church as mourners gather to grieve the loss.

MORE : Did Charlston victim post Snapchat of ‘killer’ in the Bible group moments before shooting?

MORE : Charleston Church gunman arrested: Police capture Dylann Roof

The story so far

  • Nine dead, including church’s pastor who was a state senator
  • Suspect spent hour with church group before opening fire
  • Shooter believed to have said ‘you rape our women and you’re taking over our country’ before opening fire
  • Reported to have received gun for 21st birthday
  • Snapchat video emerges of killer in church
  • Suspect arrested, US attorney general opens hate-crime probe
  • Attack evokes ‘dark part of our history’, Obama says

The victims:

Reverend Daniel Simmons

Reverend Daniel Simmons Charleston Church Killings

Susie Jackson, 87

Susie Jackson, 87 charleston church shooting

Ethel Lance, 70 

Ethel Lance, 70 (daughter Sharon Rischer id'd her charleston church shooting victims

Cynthia Hurd, 54, head librarian with the Charleston County Library’s John L. Dart Branch

CORRECTS DATE OF SHOOTING TO WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015 INSTEAD OF THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015 - In this photo taken on May 12, 2003, Cynthia Hurd, a head librarian with the Charleston County Library's John L. Dart Branch, poses for a picture in Charleston, S.C. Hurd was among the victims who were fatally shot Wednesday, June 17, 2015, allegedly at the hands of a young white man who sat among a prayer group at The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Charleston, S.C. (Adam Ferrell /The Post And Courier via AP)

DePayne Middleton, 49

DePayne Middleton A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime. The victims of the shooting were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details about the victims. Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.

Sharonda A. Coleman-Singleton, 45

Sharonda A. Coleman-Singleton A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime. The victims of the shooting were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details about the victims. Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.

Tywanza Sanders, 26

Tywanza Sanders ..A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime...The victims of the shooting were six females and three males, Mullen said Thursday morning. He did not give other details about the victims...Mullen said he believed the attack at the Emanuel AME Church was a hate crime. The suspect was described as a white man in his early 20s.......

Clementa Pinckney, 41, South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus of South Carolina Senator 

epa04805965 An undated handout picture from the South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus of South Carolina Senator Clementa Pinckney at an undisclosed location. Pinckney is among the nine people who were shot dead at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on late 17 June 2015, US media reported. The alleged shooter, a white man in his 20s, was still at large, Charleston police said on their Twitter feed. EPA/S.C. SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS/HANDOUT BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Myra Thompson, 59

MYRA THOMPSON Charleston Church Shooting

MORE : Charleston shootings: A five-year-old girl survived attack by playing dead

Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old from Lexington, has been arrested after an intense manhunt by officers.

He identified by his own uncle Carson Cowels, 56, who recognised him on CCTV footage released by police.

Tributes are laid outside the church where nine people were killed (Picture: USA EPA/JOHN TAGGART)

Cowels said his nephew had received a gun for his birthday in April. It’s not yet known if the .45 calibre pistol was the gun used in the attack.

CNN broadcast a Snapchat video taken from inside the church during the study session, which appeared to show Roof before the massacre.

MORE : Charleston shootings: White man kills nine after opening fire on people praying inside church

The lives of nine are being celebrated (Picture: USA EPA/JOHN TAGGART)

MORE : ‘You rape women and take over our country’ Charleston church gunman named as Dylann Roof

Before opening fire on the church congregation, Roof is reported to have said: ‘You rape our women and you’re taking over our country.’

The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.

The shooting has raised racial tensions in the US (Picture: USA EPA/JOHN TAGGART)
Friends and family gather outside the church to remember their loved ones (Picture: AP Photo/David Goldman)
A unidentified man touches the Emanuel AME Church after placing flowers at a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk in Charleston, S.C., following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. Shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof, 21, was captured without resistance in North Carolina Thursday after an all-night manhunt, Charleston's police chief Greg Mullen said. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
A man touches the church where the massacre took place (Picture: AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
epa04806607 Police continue to secure Calhoun Street where a gunman opened fire on a prayer meeting killing nine people at historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at dawn in Charleston, South Carolina USA, 17 June 2015. Police believe the attack is a hate crime and are searching for a young white man who has now been identified as 21 year old Dylann Storm Roof. EPA/RICHARD ELLIS
The scene in Calhoun Street where a gunman opened fire on a prayer meeting killing nine people (Picture: EPA/RICHARD ELLIS)