Charleston shooting suspect charged after reportedly confessing

The suspect in the Charleston, S.C., shooting that killed nine congregants of a historically black church on Wednesday has reportedly confessed.

Two law enforcement officials told CNN that Dylann Storm Roof, who is currently in custody, confessed to the shooting and said that he wanted to start a race war.

Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder, as well as weapons charges, police sources told NBC News. He will appear at a bond hearing via closed-circuit television Friday at 2 p.m.

NBC News further reported that Roof told investigators he “almost didn’t go through” with the massacre “because everyone was so nice to him.” 

He ultimately decided he had to “go through with his mission.”

{mosads}The officials also said that Roof bought the .45 caliber handgun that he used in the shooting. Previous reports said his father had bought him a handgun for his birthday and never mentioned the existence of another gun.

Roof was arrested in North Carolina on Thursday, the morning after he allegedly went into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and waited through an hour of Bible study before killing nine black congregants.

Witnesses claim that Roof made racial threats as he carried out the shooting, and his roommate told ABC News that he had been planning the attack for months.

A picture of Roof from his Facebook page appears to show him wearing flag patches of governments that were sympathetic to segregation in Africa.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said Friday morning on NBC’s “Today” that she wants the state to seek the death penalty against Roof.

“These are nine families that are struggling. This is a state that is hurt by the fact that nine people … were killed. We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty,” Haley said.

“This is the worst hate that I’ve seen and the country has seen in a long time. We will fight this and we will fight this as hard as we can.”