--- title: Dylann Roof: Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty description: The Justice Department will seek the death penalty for alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, who is accused of killing nine people. canonical: https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-24T21:41:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:41:09.670Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty in Charleston Church Shooting og:description: Dylann Roof allegedly killed 9 people in a historically black church last year og:url: https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e469c7608c77fa0/698894b78e0601722546608a/dylann-roof-death-penalty.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty in Charleston Church Shooting twitter:description: Dylann Roof allegedly killed 9 people in a historically black church last year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e469c7608c77fa0/698894b78e0601722546608a/dylann-roof-death-penalty.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty for Dylann Roof in Charleston Church Shooting  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan May 24, 2016 9:41 PM CUT  Dylann Roof appears at Centralized Bond Hearing Court on June 19, 2015 in North Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Roof appears at Centralized Bond Hearing Court on June 19, 2015 in North Charleston, South Carolina.Pool—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan May 24, 2016 9:41 PM CUT The U.S. Justice Department will [seek the death penalty in the case of alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-statement-case-dylann-roof "undefined"), who is accused of shooting dead nine people in a historic black church in South Carolina last year. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement Tuesday that the “nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm” compelled the decision after the Justice Department’s “rigorous review process.” [Roof](http://time.com/3926263/charleston-church-shooting-dylann-roof/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), a South Carolina native, allegedly opened fire on a Bible study group at the Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015\. He had been [indicted](http://time.com/3967942/dylann-roof-federal-hate-crimes/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined") on dozens of federal charges, including hate crime charges. Some of the 33 charges carry the possibility of the death penalty, and Lynch last July said her department would decide later whether to pursue the punishment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/"},"headline":"Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty for Dylann Roof in Charleston Church Shooting","datePublished":"2016-05-24T21:41:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:41:09.670Z","description":"Dylann Roof allegedly shot dead nine people in a historic black church last year","url":"https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e469c7608c77fa0/698894b78e0601722546608a/dylann-roof-death-penalty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e469c7608c77fa0/698894b78e0601722546608a/dylann-roof-death-penalty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston","caption":"Dylann Roof appears at Centralized Bond Hearing Court on June 19, 2015 in North Charleston, South Carolina.","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4347055/dylann-roof-death-penalty-charleston-church-shooting/","name":"Justice Department to Seek Death Penalty for Dylann Roof in Charleston Church Shooting"}}]}] ```