Friend of Charleston shooter investigated, official says

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A friend of the white man accused of shooting nine black churchgoers to death in Charleston is being investigated by federal authorities, an official said Wednesday.

A federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press that a letter was sent last month telling Joey Meek of Lexington that he was under investigation for lying to law enforcement and for knowing about a crime before or after it was committed but failing to report it.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, which was first reported by The State newspaper.

Meek has said Dylann Roof stayed with him before the June 17 shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

During an interview in June, Meek told the AP how Roof, while getting drunk on vodka, had complained that "blacks were taking over the world" and that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race."

Meek, who claims he called authorities after recognizing Roof from surveillance footage from the church, says his friend also told him he used birthday money from his parents to buy a .45-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun.

Roof faces nine counts of murder and other charges in state court in connection with the killings at the church.Roof also faces dozens of federal charges including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion.

The state has said it will seek the death penalty in the case. However, Roof's attorneys say he is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Separately, a judge said during a hearing Wednesday in Charleston that he will allow the release of some police documents and other evidence in connection with the shooting.

Judge J.C. Nicholson said he wanted to sit down with attorneys for the victims and the news media to review some of the more graphic evidence - including photographs of the crime scene - before deciding specifically what will be released. The judge also indicated the police calls could be released, but that there had been no decision whether it would be the tapes or simply transcripts.

Various news organizations, including The Associated Press, earlier had challenged Nicholson's order preventing attorneys from discussing the case and preventing the release of emergency calls, witness statements, coroner reports and other documents stemming from the June 17 shootings at Emanuel AME Church.

Attorneys for the victims' families say the material should not be released because doing so would violate the victims' rights to privacy.

The judge expressed concern earlier that the right to a fair trial for Roof could be compromised by the release of some of that material.

Roof was indicted on federal hate crime charges in July.

After the attack, an apparent manifesto of Roof's popped up online. In it, he appears to write about his alleged plot, including why he picked Charleston as the site for the attack: "I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country."

A law enforcement source told CBS News' Pat Milton that eye witness told authorities that Roof stood up in the church and said words to the effect that he was there to shoot black people, and then uttered other derogatory remarks.

A law enforcement source told CBS News that at the time of the shooting, Roof was essentially homeless. He had no fixed address, and moved from place to place. The FBI is interviewing his parents.