*Dylann Roof, the man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, reportedly had second thoughts about going through with the massacre.
Roof, 21, has been charged with nine counts of murder and illegal weapons possession. Police said he confessed to the killings Wednesday night, and told investigators that he “almost didn’t go through with it because everyone was so nice to him,” sources told NBC News.
And yet he decided he had to “go through with his mission.”
Roof was being held Friday at the Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston, and has just appeared at a bond hearing this afternoon via closed circuit television.
Roof’s roommate Dalton Tyler says he had been “planning something like that for six months.”
Tyler, who said he has known Roof for seven months to one year, said he saw the suspect just last week. “He was big into segregation and other stuff,” Tyler said. “He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself.”
Tyler said he met Roof, a Lexington, South Carolina native, through a good friend. He also said Roof’s parents, with whom he said the suspect was “on and off,” had previously bought him a gun but never allowed him to take it with him until this past week.
Meanwhile, a source told WBTV that Roof spoke freely to investigators, saying he had been planning the attack for a period of time, had researched the Emanuel AME Church and targeted it because it was a historic African-American church.
According to WBTV’s source, Roof told investigators he had his Glock handgun hidden behind a pouch he was wearing around his waist. He also told investigators he thought he’d only shot a few people and when told he actually had killed nine people, he appeared to be somewhat remorseful, according to the source.
During the recorded conversation, Roof reportedly told investigators he actually thought he would be caught in Charleston before fleeing and was headed to Nashville when he was captured.
When asked why he was going to Nashville, he reportedly told investigators “I’ve never been there before.”
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