Charleston shooting: Former classmate said Dylann Roof was quiet and kept to himself

The mass shooter was caught by police in North Carolina Thursday afternoon

Dylann Roof, the man detained by police in the aftermath of the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, is described as somebody who was quiet and who mainly kept to himself (AP)

A former classmate of the man suspected of killing nine people at a historically black church in South Carolina said the young man was quite reserved in school.

Derrick D. Gutta Pearson — a former classmate of Mr Roof’s at White Knoll High School — told The Independent he was barely an acquaintance of the suspected shooter. Mr Pearson stated that Dylan was quiet and mostly kept to himself.

Mr Roof, a 21-year-old resident of Lexington County, South Carolina, was caught by police Thursday afternoon.

John Mullins, a former classmate of Mr Roof, told CNN that Mr Roof wasn’t much of a loner and did indeed have black friends in high school. Mr Mullins said the suspected shooter was calm in high school but did share racial slurs against African-Americans that were never taken seriously.

Mr Mullins suspected that he did use drugs and hang out with a rough crowd.

According to public records show Mr Roof was arrested in March in Lexington County on drug charges. An image taken from his Facebook page shows him in a green jacket bearing a flag that appears to belong apartheid South Africa.

Reports said that Mr Roof was also arrested in April for trespassing charges.

Mr Roof was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Shelby, North Carolina.