CHARLESTON, SC. — Dylann Roof will face a judge Friday after he allegedly shot and killed nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina Wednesday.
Roof was captured and arrested Thursday during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina, about 45 miles from the shooting scene, Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said.
Mullen said Roof was cooperative with the officer who stopped him. Local police in Shelby made the arrest.
In a news conference, President Barack Obama expressed his anger surrounding the shooting.
Read: About the victims of the Charleston church massacre
Raw: Dylann Roof arrest, transported
Special Section: Charleston church massacre
Raw: Coroner releases names of victims in Charleston shooting
Photos: 9 killed at historic black church in Charleston
Read: 5 things to know about the deadly Charleston, S.C., church shooting
Obama said the shooting inside the church shows the need for a national reckoning on gun violence in America. "It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency," he said.
Roof, 21, had been in trouble with police in the past.
Pictures of Roof wearing a jacket with symbols of white supremacy have been circulating since the Wednesday shootings.
Those who knew Roof said he'd shown signs of racism before. One friend recalled Roof telling racist jokes at school.
"They were just racist slurs in a sense. I don't know. He would just say it, just as a joke. I really don't know how else to explain it," said Roof's former classmate.
Roof's roommate told ABC News that Roof is extremely racist and that he had planned the church attack for six months.
Dalton Tyler, who said he has known Roof for less than a year, said he saw the suspect last week.
"He was big into segregation and other stuff," Tyler told ABC News. "He said he wanted to start a civil war. He said he was going to do something like that and then kill himself."
Tyler said he met Roof through a mutual friend. He also said Roof's parents, with whom he said the suspect was "on and off," had previously bought him a gun but never allowed him to take it with him until this past week.
Surveillance photos show Roof sitting in the corner of the church next to the black worshippers on whom police say he later turned his gun.
"[It's a] diabolical intent that somebody would go into a Bible study, listen for an hour and decide to shoot everybody in there. I think it's horrific," South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford said.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
"I never took it seriously, but now that he's shown his other side, maybe it should've been taken more seriously," said Roof's former classmate.
South Carolina is one of five states that do not have a hate crime statute. Because of that, federal authorities will have to make charges in the case.
The church massacre has raised questions about the need for church security in central Florida.
Local pastors described how churches used to rely on volunteers and deacons for security.
"They literally patrolled the grounds for theft and assisted with parking. We're way beyond that," said Rev. Larry Mills of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Hills.
He said hiring church security became common after burnings of black churches peaked in the 1990s.
In recent years, pastors have begun carrying guns, Mills said.
"There's a large amount of pastors who have (carrying a concealed weapon) permits," Mills said.
Mills said churches must be proactive. (Raw: Mario Boone talks to local pastor about church security)
Previous story: Local churches make plans to beef up security after Charleston church massacre
WFTV