Tennessee church shooting suspect had note citing retaliation for Charleston massacre, report reveals

The man who was charged with the murder of a woman in a shooting spree at a Tennessee church last week was reportedly in possession of a note that made reference to retaliation for the Charleston massacre, in which nine black people were killed two years ago.

The note, found in the car of 25-year-old shooting suspect Emanuel Kidega Samson, indicated a possible motive for the shooting rampage that took place at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Nashville on Sept. 24.

An investigative report circulating among law enforcement stated that the note referenced revenge or retaliation for Dylann Roof, a 23-year-old avowed white supremacist who was convicted of murdering black worshippers at Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.

However, it was not clear what precisely Samson is alleged to have written about the 2015 church shooting, or whether the note contained other important details that might reveal his motive or his state of mind.

Samson, who police say was wearing a mask, was accused of killing a woman in the parking lot of Burnette Chapel and wounding six worshippers in the building, according to Reuters.

A .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and three other firearms were found in his sport utility vehicle following the rampage. He reportedly used a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol to fire the shots at the church.

The suspect was jailed after being treated at a hospital for the injury he sustained during a scuffle with an usher.

He has been charged with the murder and a civil rights investigation into the shooting has been launched by the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville and the FBI.

Samson, who is black, had attended services at Burnette Chapel a year or two ago. He came to the U.S. from Sudan as a child in 1996 and is now a U.S. citizen.

According to police records, He had expressed suicidal thoughts in June and had a volatile relationship with a woman that twice involved the authorities this year.

One of the bizarre messages he posted on Facebook read, "Everything you've ever doubted or made to be believe as false, is real. & vice versa, B."

Earlier this year, Roof had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death for state murder charges in the deaths of the nine black churchgoers he killed in Charleston.

Unlike Emmanuel AME, Burnett Chapel, which is located in the Nashville neighborhood of Antioch, has a diverse congregation with people of various ethnicities, a detail noted in the investigative report.