COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A black drinking buddy of the white man accused of killing nine people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church says that a week before the attack, the suspect announced plans to shoot up a college campus.
Christon Scriven told The Associated Press on Friday that on June 10, while they were getting drunk on vodka, Dylann Roof announced plans to carry out a mass shooting seven days later at the College of Charleston.
Scriven says he thought the threat was just drunken bluster. Still, he and another friend, Joey Meek, were concerned enough that they went out to Roof’s car and retrieved Roof’s handgun, hiding it until they all sobered up.
Authorities say that on Wednesday, Roof fatally shot the pastor and eight others at the historic black Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston. In interviews, Roof’s friends described a troubled 21-year-old man who alternated between racist rants and partying with black friends.
