Heaven Help Us All To Survive In This Violence‑Plagued Age

I still cannot fathom the kind of mental disorder that leads someone to mass murder (9 people dead when BBC wrote the story), but I do know that ready availability of guns of types that are of no use for hunting, self-defense, etc. has enabled such disturbed people to perpetrate such crimes:

Charleston church shooting: Police hunt suspected killer

US police are hunting for a man they suspect of shooting dead nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Officials released CCTV images of a man they said was white, in his early 20s, and sat in on a bible study meeting for an hour before opening fire.

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This killer got away, and is being sought. Surveillance video footage shows a suspect from the side and a vehicle from the front (see above linked BBC article); unfortunately, SC does not believe in front license plates.

I may not be a great fan of religion, but when we have reached the point at which a church meeting is not a safe place to be, our society is badly deteriorated. My prayers and condolences to the families of those killed.

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UPDATE Thu 6/18 about 12:45 CT: a suspect has been captured. From the description, it sounds as if the 21-year-old man is an extreme racist nut-job. See what you think.