Obama to deliver eulogy for the Charleston victims

WASHINGTON — President Obama will travel to Charleston, S.C., on Friday to deliver the eulogy for the pastor who was gunned down along with eight other worshipers at his church last week, the White House said.

First lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Biden are also scheduled to attend the funeral for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney of the Emanuel AME Church, the historic sanctuary where last week's killings took place. "Further details about the President's travel to South Carolina will be made available in the coming days," the White House said in a statement.

Authorities have charged a white supremacist with nine counts of murder in connection with the Wednesday shootings of nine people at a Bible study session.

In remarks shortly after the shooting, Obama said the nation needs to keep looking for ways to prevent an epidemic of mass shootings, including new measures designed to keep guns away from dangerous people. "This stuff happens way too often," Obama said during a weekend fundraiser in California. "We've got to change that. It's not enough for us to express sympathy. We have to take action."

9 dead after Charleston church shooting

 Nine dead in Charleston church massacre

CHARLESTON – A gunman shot to death nine church members who had gathered for Bible study and prayer Wednesday night at one of the nation’s oldest black churches.

Among the dead was beloved pastor Clementa Pinckney, a longtime state senator who spent the earlier part of the day campaigning in the city with Hillary Clinton. South Carolina Police Chief Gregory Mullen called the shooting “a hate crime” in a press conference after midnight. ‘Intense scene’ in Charleston, South Carolina after shooting

The gunman, who the police chief described as “a white male, 21 years old with sandy blond hair,” remained at large early Thursday. Mullen said the suspect is “extremely dangerous.”

The police chief said there were wounded victims in addition to the dead, but he did not say how many.

The violence erupted at Charleston’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, the oldest such congregation in the South, known as much for the role it played at significant moments of racial distress as for its grand Gothic architecture.