Charleston Mayor: 1 shot, hostages being held, ‘not an act of terrorism or racism’
Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area of Charleston, South Carolina, that is popular with tourists.
Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference that the shooting Thursday at Virginia’s in downtown Charleston was not an act of terrorism or racism.
Tecklenburg did not have the condition of the person shot, and said he didn’t know how many hostages remained inside the restaurant.
Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.
Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.
The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.
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