The U.S. Justice Department will seek the death penalty in the case of alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, 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, a South Carolina native, allegedly opened fire on a Bible study group at the Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015.