President Obama gave a solemn statement Thursday on the Wednesday night massacre that left nine dead at a church in Charleston, S.C., calling the deaths "particularly heartbreaking" for occurring in "a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace."
"To say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and their community doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel," Obama said.
The suspected killer, 21-year-old white man Dylann Roof, was arrested Friday morning in North Carolina. All nine victims were black, and the attack is being investigated as a hate crime. The site of the killings, Mother Emanuel African Methodist Church, has a rich history and has played a deep role in the civil rights movement.
Obama's voice grew stern as he referenced past mass slayings that have occurred during his administration.
"I've had to make statements like this too many times," he said. "Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. We don't have all the facts, but we do know that once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. Now's the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."