Her name is Debbie Dills, an employee at Frady Florist in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and her eagle eye helped authorities capture Dylann Roof, who is suspected of being the shooter who killed nine people Wednesday night at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Dills reportedly caught sight of Roof on the highway, as he was making his getaway in a black Hyundai. Here's what she told the Shelby Star:
"I saw the news coverage last night and the picture of the car. I knew it was a black car, and it had a tag on the front. I saw the pictures of him with the bowl cut," Dills said through tears. "Since it happened I was praying for them and the church. I was in the right place at the right time that the Lord puts you." [Shelby Star]
Dills then called her boss, who then called the police, relaying the information of Roof's whereabouts. Dills stuck with Roof's car until he was apprehended.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Embrace the Boricua spirit on a foodie tour of Puerto RicoThe Week Recommends From cultural food tours to organic farms, there is plenty to discover around the island
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
