Shooting suspect feared 'blacks were taking over the world'

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, 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 accused of fatally shooting nine people 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.

He has been charged with nine counts of murder as well as possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, police said today.

Police captured Roof in Shelby, N.C., after a motorist spotted him at a traffic light on her way to work. His apprehension ended an intense, hours-long manhunt.

Roof waived extradition and was back in Charleston on Thursday night, authorities said, with a bond hearing pending. Today, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told NBC's "Today" show the shooter should get the death penalty.

"We will absolutely will want him to have the death penalty," Haley said.