Dylann Roof visited second black church after Charleston shooting

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Convicted killer Dylann Roof visited a second black church after killing nine people in a Charleston, S.C., church in 2015, according to court records.

Newly unsealed court records in Roof's federal trial indicate that after he shot and killed nine people attending a Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015, Roof drove 20 miles to Branch AME Church in Jedburg. The second church advertised a weekly Bible study meeting that night.

A GPS device in Roof's car showed the device was shut off for 2 minutes, an indication he stopped his car near the church. Prosecutors said in a motion that the similarities between the two churches, and that Roof was still armed, "supports the inference that defendant intended to continue his racially motivated violence at Branch AME Church that night and, more specifically, that his intended targets were African-American congregants at a church."

The motion noted no commercial buildings are near the Branch church, suggesting Roof visited the area only to enter the church. It is unclear if any church members were present that evening.

Roof, 22, a self-described white supremacist, was convicted on 33 counts in federal court in January, including hate crime and religious freedom violations, and was sentenced to death. He awaits a state trial on murder charges.

Additional evidence presented in the motion said Roof drove past the Branch church on prior occasions, and that he mentioned his racist ideology to a co-worker in 2014.

The motion was one of several documents unsealed Tuesday, after federal prosecutors objected to Roof's request for a new federal trial.