Did Dylann Roof Attempt Suicide Afterwards?

A Charleston shooting survivor has claimed suspected gunman Dylann Roof attempted to commit suicide after shooting nine dead Wednesday evening at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, according to the Los Angeles Times. According to survivor Polly Sheppard's account, shared by Kevin Singleton, the son of victim Myra Thompson, Roof allegedly told Sheppard he would spare her solely so she could recount the details of the shooting to the public, and then held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. However, the gun was reportedly out of bullets, and Roof was forced to flee the church. If this account is to be believed, then it would indicate Roof did not intended to leave the church and go on the run. Sheppard herself has made no comments about these account put forward by Singleton.

Singleton also told the Los Angeles Times that, according to Sheppard, Roof originally targeted the church because he intended to shoot Rev. Clementa Pinckney. Singleton alleged that Roof shot 74-year-old Rev. Daniel Simmons and began opening fire on the others at the church after Simmons "grappled with him." If true, then it is unclear if Roof, the suspected gunman, had even planned to stage a mass killing that evening. These revelations could impact Roof's case should it go to trial.

After fleeing from the church, Roof was located Thursday morning by a motorist who reportedly followed him for 35 miles and provided important details to the police. Roof's hearing took place Friday morning. In a Charleston courtroom, the emotional family members of victims spoke to the emotionless face of Roof through a TV screen. Family members assured the suspected gunman that they not only forgave him, but prayed for him.

Since the bail hearing, the racial history of the judge presiding over the hearing has since surfaced. Judge James B. Gosnell, who was quickly replaced by Circuit Court Judge J.C. Nicholson, was on record telling an African American defendant in 2003:

There are four kinds of people in this world — black people, white people, red necks, and n*ggers.

On Saturday, a website registered under Roof's name surfaced and went viral as it contained a long and rambling racist manifesto. The bone-chilling rant revealed racist sentiments for Jews and Hispanics and expressed disturbingly passionate hatred for African Americans. The document mourned the lack of a violent white supremacy presence comparable to the KKK. One of its most disturbing passages lamented society's "current situation" without slavery, segregation, or institutions that oppressed black people.

I wish with a passion that n*ggers were treated terribly throughout history by Whites, that every White person had an ancestor who owned slaves, that segregation was an evil an oppressive institution, and so on. Because if it was all it true, it would make it so much easier for me to accept our current situation.

The manifesto was unearthed along with disturbing photos of Roof posing with guns, the Confederate flag, and flags of African countries that supported apartheid. The website in which these items were discovered was called LastRhodesian.com, and has since been taken down.

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