12:15 p.m. ET
Last night, a gunman opened fire at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people including pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney. The Department of Justice is opening a hate crime investigation into this tragedy.
The President delivered the following statement from the White House Briefing Room:
Full video: Watch President Obama's statement on the tragic #CharlestonShooting. http://t.co/LkxrbDmWQQ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 18, 2015