Charleston Massacre: Snapchat From Victim Shows Suspect Dylann Storm Roof Attending Bible Study Prior To Shooting

A Snapchat video has emerged showing Charleston massacre suspect Dylann Storm Roof attending Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston before he opened fire.

Snapchat Shows Dylann Roof At Bible Study Before Shooting

The Snapchat photos and video were allegedly sent to friends from the youngest victim of the shooting, Tywanza Sanders. Following the massacre, his friends saw the photo and realized that a white figure in the background must be Roof. “I didn’t notice until now that Dylann was just a few people away from Wanza. You can slightly see him in the right corner of the screenshot,” one friend told Mashable.

Tywanza Sanders: Youngest Victim Of Charleston Massacre Sent Snapchat

The video appears to confirm original reports that Roof, a 21-year-old white man, asked to attend Bible study at the church, where he stayed for an hour before opening fire on the group. While the Snapchat photo and video appear grainy and out of focus, Roof is easily spotted as the only white person in attendance.

Sanders, 26, recently graduated from Allen University with a degree in business and was working in a barber shop. Sanders reportedly died while trying to save his aunt, Susie Jackson, 87. Sanders tried to reason with Roof during the shooting, telling him, “You don’t have to do this,” according to a relative of a survivor, Kristen Washington.

Washington claimed that Roof responded to Sanders’ plea, saying, “Yes. You are raping our women and taking over the country.” Sanders reportedly stood in front of his aunt to protect her, and asked Roof to shoot him instead of his aunt. Sanders and Jackson were both killed in the massacre, along with Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lee Lance, Reverend Daniel L Simmons and Reverend Depayne Middleton-Doctor.

A photo posted by TyWanza Sanders (@freshwanza) on Mar 31, 2015 at 9:54am PDT

Dylann Roof Wanted To “Start A Race War”

Roof is suspected of killing nine people at the historic black church in Charleston. He was captured by police on Thursday and appeared in court on Friday after being charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm.

According to reports, Roof confessed to the shootings and told authorities he wanted “To start a race war.”

Roof’s roommate, Dalton Tyler, confirmed that Roof wanted to spark a war, telling ABC News, “He was big into segregation and other stuff… He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.”

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.