Nine people have been killed in a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Authorities intend to investigate it as a hate crime.

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen has been quoted by Yahoo! News as saying that eight people were found dead at Emanuel AME Church after the shooting and another person died later at the hospital.

Mullen said 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, the report said.

Responding to the shooting, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in a statement: “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.”