Charleston shooting: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church - site of deadly shooting - to reopen for services on Sunday

Police have said they are no longer holding church as an active crime scene

Local ministers comfort each other near the site of a mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina (EPA)

Congregation members say the historic black church where nine people were killed is going to re-open for Sunday morning service.

Cassie Watson said the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church will open at 8.30am for Sunday school and 9am for a service. The announcement came as Charleston police announced that the church was not longer a “crime scene” and was being handed back to the church community.

Ms Watson was one of more than a dozen people to enter the building after a cleaning crew had worked on it, the Associated Press said. Other congregation members also confirmed the church would open Sunday.

Authorities say 21-year-old Dylann Roof fatally shot nine people at the church on Wednesday night.