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Shelby police chief recounts Charleston shooting suspect's arrest

SHELBY, N.C. — The federal trial for the suspected Charleston church shooter could be moved out of the city.

The judge asked Dylann Roof's defense team to inform the court Friday if they plan to ask for a change of venue.

His death penalty trial is set for Nov 7.

The hearing Friday comes on the 1-year anniversary of the day police said Roof went into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and shot nine people during a Bible study, triggering a massive manhunt that ended with Roof's arrest in Shelby.

The day after the shooting, the suspect, Dylann Roof, used his debit card at a gas station in south Charlotte off Interstate 485 around 6 a.m.

Later that morning, Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford said they got a tip that Roof was driving on Highway 74.

"They went out to the bypass and set up, and sure enough, they came through," Ledford said.
 
A florist heading to work in Kings Mountain spotted the car that had been described on the news, and the driver looked like Roof.

Police pulled the car over with the dashcam recording. Roof gave up without a fight.

"The folks in Charleston went through a horrible thing," Ledford said. "This is something we could do to help."
 
A group called Partnership for Change, made up of faith-based and community leaders and put together in 2012, was there to support the Shelby Police Department.
 
"When he was caught, and those pastors learned we needed help, and they came here, it was phenomenal," Ledford said.

"There’s a lasting impression.

What we took away from this is, not only do we have to prepare ourselves, but also prepare our community,” Ledford said.