Probe of S.C. killings widens
The suspect's associates are also being investigated, sources said.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A joint state and federal investigation into the activities of accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof has widened to include other persons of interest, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
The expanded scope of the investigation now includes people with whom Roof associated in the weeks before the June 17 shootings of nine African Americans at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, the sources said. Roof, 21, of Columbia, is white.
Although it appears Roof traveled alone to and from Charleston on the day of the killings, it is possible others had some knowledge of what he planned to carry out, said the sources, who are not being identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
Investigators began to explore how much Roof's associates knew, and when they knew it, after reviewing his cellphone and computer records, the sources said.
Prosecutors are still studying exactly what charges, if any, some of those associates might face, the sources said.
The New York Times on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the investigation, also said federal and state authorities have found Roof had been in contact with white supremacists online, though it does not appear they encouraged him to carry out the massacre.
The Times report did not identify who those people were.
Asked about the Roof case, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said Thursday, "As the attorney general [Loretta Lynch] said, 'We have opened a file on this and are continuing to investigate this tragedy.'" He declined to elaborate.
One possible charge could be misprision of a felony, which means a person had knowledge of a crime to be carried out and did not inform law enforcement. Other charges might be lying to a federal law enforcement officer.
Apart from announcing Roof's arrest and making public the nine state murder charges and one weapons charge against him, state and federal officials have made public relatively little about the case. Those other public notices and events have included a notice filed in federal court that the U.S. Attorney's Office was officially involved in the case and naming the prosecutors. That notice also named two defense attorneys appointed to the case.
The U.S. Justice Department also announced it was looking at possible hate-crime charges.
