CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 3 (UPI) — The state of South Carolina will seek the death penalty against accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, according to a court document filed Thursday.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson will try Roof, who is accused of gunning down nine people at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in June, the document said.
The 21-year-old faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons charge in the June 17 massacre.
The document, according to WCSC-TV, said the decision to seek the death penalty is based on two aggravating factors. It says Roof “knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person in a public place by means of a weapon or device which normally would be hazardous to the lives of more than one person;” and “two or more persons were murdered by Dylann Storm Roof by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.”
Wilson’s office said it will comment further at an afternoon news conference.
Roof, an accused white supremacist, also faces more than 30 federal hate crime and weapons charges.
Nine people were killed at the historic Charleston church, including its pastor, South Carolina state Rep. Clementa Pickney, in the attack.
Roof has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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