The Shelby Police Department on Tuesday released dash cam video footage and audio of the 911 calls in the moments leading up to the arrest of the accused Charleston church shooter, Dylann Roof, 21.
"Hey Shelby, this is Officer Davis at Kings Mountain," Shane Davis can be heard saying on one of the released 911 calls. "I know it's strange, but I just got a call on my personal cell phone -- and it's secondhand information -- but a lady called a friend of mine and said she's behind a car matching the description of the Charleston killer: white male, early 20s, bowl haircut ..."
Roof, who was charged with murdering nine people inside a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, last week, headed north in his car after the shooting. The next day, a North Carolina florist running late for work spotted him on the highway in Shelby, North Carolina, and recognized him by his haircut.
Listen to 911 audio of Todd Frady calling Kings Mountain Officer Shane Davis
Debbie Dills, a minister and florist who works in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, called her boss, Todd Frady, when she spied Roof. Frady called Davis, a friend with the Kings Mountain Police, who then called Shelby authorities.
"One of my drivers is out in Shelby, and the guy that shot the people in Charleston -- she's behind [him]," Frady can be heard saying on the call.
Listen to 911 audio of King Mountain Police Officer Shane Davis calling the Shelby PD
“I saw the pictures of him with the bowl cut. I said, 'I've seen that car for some reason.’ I look over, and it's got a South Carolina tag on it,” Dills told the Shelby Star last week. “I thought, 'Nah, that's not his car.' Then, I got closer and saw that haircut. I was nervous. I had the worst feeling. Is that him or not him?”
Roof was captured within 20 minutes of Dills' tip. By the time he had reached Shelby -- 245 miles from Charleston -- the manhunt for him had been going for 14 hours.
Shelby Police said Roof was "polite" and "quiet," and was arrested Thursday without incident.
Roof's treatment in police custody -- he was given a bulletproof vest and was brought food from Burger King when he complained he was hungry -- has been questioned for its stark contrast to arrests of some black suspects, like South Carolina man Walter Scott, who in April was fatally shot running from police after a traffic stop.
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