Roof formally charged with 9 murders

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A former friend who had reconnected with the man accused of a shooting massacre inside a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, said Dylann Storm Roof had become an avowed racist.

Joey Meek reconnected with Roof a few weeks ago and said that while they got drunk together on vodka, Roof began complaining that "blacks were taking over the world" and that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race."

Roof, 21, is charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, police said Friday.

Under South Carolina law, the latter charge is common when a weapon such as a knife or gun is used in a violent crime, whether it was legally owned or not.

Police captured Roof in Shelby, North Carolina, after a motorist spotted him at a traffic light on her way to work. His apprehension ended an intense, hours-long manhunt after nine people were fatally shot during a Bible study at The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Wednesday night, ripping out a piece of South Carolina's civic heart and adding to the ever-growing list of America's racial casualties.

Roof waived extradition and was back in Charleston on Thursday night, authorities said. A bond hearing was scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, though Roof was unlikely to appear in court. Most initial hearings are conducted over a video link with the county jail.

On Friday morning, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told NBC's "Today" show: "We will absolutely will want him to have the death penalty."

Charleston officials announced a prayer vigil for Friday evening. The city's mayor described the shooting at the church as an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil."