.The unidentified gunman opened fire at the historic Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina around 9pm on Wednesday, killing nine people - three male victims and six females
.He let one woman escape so she could tell the world what happened while a child survived by playing dead
.It has emerged that the gunman had entered the church around an hour before the shooting and had joined the bible study group before suddenly opening fire
.Among the dead is 41-year-old Reverend Clementa Pinckney, pastor of the church and a South Carolina state senator who leaves behind a wife and two young daughters
.Charleston police say the gunman is still at large and released CCTV images of him and his getaway vehicle
.Police Chief Gregory Mullen said he believed the shooting was a hate crime
.The Department of Justice, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office have launched a hate crime investigation
The white gunman sought by police for shooting dead nine people during bible study at an African-American church in South Carolina last night told one survivor he 'had to do it', it has emerged.
The unidentified gunman, who remains on the run since the horrific massacre at the 150-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, reloaded his gun five times as he picked off his victims - killing six men and three women - according to one survivor.
On Thursday, a cousin of one of the victims, Pastor and South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney, told NBC News that she had spoken to one of the survivors who recounted the gunman's chilling words as they urged him to stop.
'He just said: "I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go",' Sylvia Johnson said.
The gunman spared one woman so she could 'tell the world what happened', eye witnesses recounted, while a five-year-old girl also survived the attack after her grandmother told her to play dead when the shooter started firing.
Police have launched a massive manhunt for the gunman and have released surveillance images of the suspect and his car.
Have you seen this man? Police have released a CCTV image of the suspect they believe opened fire in an African-American church in South Carolina on Wednesday night. Nine people were left dead and the gunman fled the scene
Getaway vehicle: The suspect was pictured leaving the church in a black four door sedan which has a distinctive license plate
Victim: The Reverend Clementa Pinckney, left and right, has been confirmed as one of the dead who was killed in the massacre
They have described him as a clean-shaven white male, 5 ft 9 in height. He is believed to be wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and Timberland boots. He is believed to be the only shooter.
Police say he fled the scene in a 'distinctive' getaway car, which they believe is still in the Charleston area. They released images of the vehicle and asked for anyone who sees it to contact authorities immediately.
'He is dangerous and should not be approached and anybody who sees him should call 911,' Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said. 'We need to identify and arrest him before he hurts someone else in the city or the general area.'
He added: 'We believe this is a hate crime - that is how we are investigating it.'
On Thursday, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office have launched a hate crime investigation into the mass shooting, ABC reported. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies have joined the investigation, Mullen said.
The killer is believed to have entered the church around 8pm before taking part in the prayer group for about an hour, police said.
Although it is a black church, it would not be surprising to see a white person - or a person of any other race - attending a gathering there, Charleston's NAACP President Dot Scott told CNN on Thursday.
Speaking in the NBC interview, Johnson explained that the gunman had entered the church and specifically asked for Pastor Pinckney before sitting down beside him throughout the meeting.
The Reverend Norvel Goff, a presiding elder for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, told the Washington Post that the suspect 'walked in, from my understanding, not so much as a participant, but as a brief observer who then stood up and then started shooting'.
Police received the first call about the shooting shortly after 9pm.
Scene: The gunfire broke out at the 150-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on Wednesday night
Manhunt: A huge manhunt ensued with officers wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying guns; the gunman was still at large at 2am
Response: One person was taken to hospital from the scene and they later died. Eight victims were found dead in the church
Scene of horror: Emergency personnel and investigators gather outside the church after the shooting on Wednesday night
Police investigators stand outside the Emanuel AME Church after a gunman opened fire killing nine people at a bible study group
Shooting: Police responded to the shooting around 9pm at the 150-year-old church and Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen said he believes the shooting was a hate crime
Fears: A passing motorist looks from her window as she stops at an intersection near the church early on Thursday
Victims: Lisa Doctor joins a prayer circle down the street from the church after news of the deadly shooting
Emergency responders found eight people dead inside the church, and one was taken to hospital where they later died, Mullen said on Thursday. Three survivors were also found inside.
Dot Scott of the NAACP told the Post and Courier that a female survivor told her family members that the gunman said she could escape. He said he was letting her live so she could tell the world what happened.
Meanwhile, family members who were being briefed by chaplains after the shooting reportedly said that a five-year-old girl survived the attack after she was told to play dead by her grandmother.
'The tragedy that we're addressing right now is indescribable,' Mullen said on Thursday morning. 'No one in this community will ever forget this night.
'We are committed to do whatever is necessary to bring this individual to justice. We are not leaving any stone unturned.'
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr added: 'This is an unfathomable and unspeakable act by somebody filled with hate and with a deranged mind.
'We're going to put our arms around this church... We're going to find this horrible scoundrel.'
A family assistance center has been set up in downtown Charleston for those who lost loved ones in the attack, they said.
It has been suggested that the shooting was timed to coincide with two large political rallies in the city, as just hours before Rev Pinckney met with Hillary Clinton as part of her presidential campaign and Jeb Bush was also due to visit Charleston today but his appearance has now been canceled.
In a statement, the Bush campaign said: 'Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with individuals and families affected by this tragedy.'
Meanwhile Hillary Clinton tweeted: 'Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all.'
Following the massacre, officers also investigated a possible bomb threat but several hours later gave the all-clear.
Shona Holmes, a bystander in the aftermath of the shooting, added: 'It's just hurtful to think that someone would come in and shoot people in a church. If you're not safe in church, where are you safe?'
Local pastor Thomas Dixon told NBC News that a bible study session was likely underway at the time of the shooting. He said the church holds the sessions every Wednesday.
A heavy police presence remained outside the church and a helicopter was seen assisting law enforcement on the scene in the hours following the shooting, FOX reports.
'The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate,' Mayor Riley added. 'It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person.'
On Thursday, a photo shared by a WIS reporter shows a black cloth placed over Pinckney's seat in the South Carolina Senate.
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, the slain pastor's cousin, Kent Williams, expressed his shock at the nature of the killing.
'It is devastating that someone would go into God's house and commit such a crime,' he said. 'It is beyond my imagination, I can't even comprehend this. It tells me that we can't be safe anywhere... It is despicable.'
The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighboring North Charleston that sparked major protests and highlighted racial tensions in the area.
The officer in that case has been charged with murder, and prompted South Carolina lawmakers to push through a bill helping all police agencies in the state get body cameras.
In a statement, Governor Nikki Haley asked South Carolinians to pray for the victims and their families and decried violence on religious places. 
Heartbroken: A man looks on with tears in his eyes as a group of people arrive on the scene to ask about what happened
Prayer Circle: Here, a group of several men are seen standing in a circle in front of a hotel near the church for an impromptu prayer service
Local ministers comfort each other by holding hands and praying near the site of the mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina
Tragedy: Local residents and church members embraced and consoled one another in the hours following the incident, the police chief described the incident as a 'senseless, unfathomable' tragedy
Mourning: Surreace Cox, from North Charleston, holds up a sign during a prayer vigil down the street from the Emanuel AME Church
'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,' Haley said.
Soon after Wednesday night's shooting, a group of pastors huddled together praying in a circle across the street.
Community organizer Christopher Cason said he felt certain the shootings were racially motivated.
'I am very tired of people telling me that I don't have the right to be angry,' Cason said. 'I am very angry right now.'
Even before Scott's shooting in April, Cason said he had been part of a group meeting with police and local leaders to try to shore up better relationships.
According to the church's website, Emanuel AME Church -- often referred to as 'Mother Emanuel' -- is the oldest AME church in the south and has one of the largest black congregations south of Baltimore, Maryland.
The 150-year-old church played an important role in the state's history, including the slavery era and the Civil Rights movement.
Tribute: An photo from Thursday shows a black cloth places over Senator Pinckney's seat in the South Carolina Senate
Updated: Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen speaks during a news conference on Thursday as the search for the gunman continues
Search: Charleston Emergency Management Director Mark Wilbert holds a flier distributed to media to help catch the gunman
Heartbreaking: Hillary Clinton tweeted to her millions of followers that news of the shooting was 'heartbreaking' and her 'thoughts and prayers' are with Charleston
Statement: South Carolina issued this statement describing the shooting as a 'senseless tragedy' and saying she and others will 'never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another'
THE SIMMERING RACE RELATIONS AND THE HISTORY OF THE EMANUEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church has been at the center of tense race relations in South Carolina.
Charleston is known locally as 'The Holy City', due to its large number of churches and historical mix of immigrant ethnic groups that brought a variety of creeds to the city on the Atlantic coast.
The church was formed in 1816 when African-American members of the Charleston's Methodist Episcopal Church formed thier own congregation.
It is one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South, and was founded in part by a freed slave who was later executed for organizing a revolt, according to the U.S. National Park Service.
Six years after being set up, one of the church founders was implicated in a slave revolt plot. He wasn't convicted. But during the case, the church was burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1834.
The congregation continued the tradition of the African church by worshipping underground until 1865 when it was formally reorganized, and the name Emanuel was adopted, meaning 'God with us'.
The state's endorsement of the Confederacy and slavery ran deep in the 1800s and, in more recent decades, white support for so-called 'Jim Crow' segregation laws kept black residents marginalized.The Confederate flag still flies on the grounds of the statehouse in Columbia.
The state was also at the center of the civil rights movement in the 1960s with Martin Luther King being a visitor to the church.
Unarmed black man Walter Scott, who was shot dead by a white police officer, pictured, in South Carolina last month
Just two months ago, Reverend Clementa Pinckney attended rallies and services in support of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was shot dead by a white police officer, pictured above.
Mr Scott was fleeing a car after being pulled over by a traffic stop when he was fatally wounded by police officer Michael Slanger in nearby North Charleston.
Footage emerged of the officer firing eight times at Scott, provoking outrage and rekindled an ongoing national debate about the treatment of black suspects at the hands of white officers.
Slanger has now been charged with murder and is awaiting trial.
An analysis by The State newspaper in Columbia found that police in South Carolina fired their weapons at 209 suspects during a five-year period. Only a handful of those officers were accused of a crime and none were convicted, the paper found.
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