(AllHipHop News) 21-year-old Dylann Roof is in police custody after killing nine people during a bible study at a Charleston, South Carolina church. Authorities believe the massacre at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was racially motivated because Roof reportedly said he intended to “kill black people.”

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People across the nation have expressed their condolences to the victims’ families and condemned the shooter’s actions. Vibe spoke with Nas about the deadly shooting, and the Queens emcee focused on the need to improve mental health treatment and racism in America.

“Mental illness is something that I wish we could detect early on from birth. To detect that and maybe vaccinate that at birth, so that we don’t have to worry about who are walking around, who are the people that are living around us that are sick,” said Nas. “How do we heal the people that are mentally ill today? How do we make them more respectful of each other no matter what race you are? Racism is rotting America.”

Nine individuals have been identified as the victims of the tragic incident in Charleston: Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., Rev. Sharonda Singleton, and Myra Thompson.