The gunman suspected of killing nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been identified by the FBI as 21-year-old Dylann Roof.
Roof's uncle told Reuters news agency he recognised his nephew in the surveillance photos released by police.
"The more I look at him, the more I'm convinced, that's him," Carson Cowles said in a phone interview.
He described his nephew as "quiet" and "soft spoken".
Roof had received a gun as a birthday present in April, Mr Cowles added.
A manhunt is under way for the suspect, who sat with church-goers at a prayer meeting for an hour before spraying the group with bullets, killing nine.
The gunman was seen leaving the scene of the massacre in a black four-door sedan.
Police said there was "no reason to believe" the suspect was not still in the Charleston area.
The shooting happened at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in downtown Charleston at around 9pm (local time) on Wednesday.
Police said eight people died at the scene and a ninth victim died later in hospital. A tenth victim is being treated in hospital.
The deceased were six females and three males, authorities said.
The Department of Justice said on Thursday it was opening a hate crimes investigation into the shooting.
The probe will be "parallel to and cooperative with the state's investigation", the department said in a statement.
Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said there is "no doubt" it was a hate crime.
He vowed to "put all effort, all resources and all of our energy into finding this individual who committed this crime tonight".
"This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience.
"It is senseless, it is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
Charleston's mayor Joe Riley said: "This is an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in this most historic church, an evil and hateful person took the lives of citizens who had come to worship and pray together."
Shortly after the shooting, people were told to move back after a bomb threat was made in the area, Reuters reported.
A police helicopter was assisting officers on the ground - wearing bulletproof vests and carrying guns - with the search for the shooter and the FBI were also investigating.
Cameras at the scene filmed police taking a white man in a grey T-shirt into a nearby Marriott hotel - but law enforcement officials said they were still looking for the gunman.
Local media said the more than 150-year-old Emmanuel AME church has a predominantly black congregation and is one of the oldest in the country.
The church hosts a bible study session every Wednesday evening that is open to anyone, according to its website.
South Carolina's House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford says the church's pastor, Clementa Pinckney, also a state senator, is among the victims of the shooting.
Tearful relatives were seen gathering at the edge of the police cordon, where they were speaking to emergency services workers.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in a statement: "While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another."
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