8 People Killed in Atlanta-Area Massage Parlor Shootings
Six of the victims were Asian, the authorities said, raising fears that there may have been a racial motivation to the crimes.
8 killed in shootings at 3 metro Atlanta spas. Police have 1 suspect in custody
Spa killing spree leaves 8 dead in metro Atlanta; suspect captured
Police said many of the victims are Asian women.
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/spa-killings-atlanta-cherokee/85-d8b55ae6-d3e5-44d2-975c-6334bcd27633
Video evidence suggests “it is extremely likely” that the same person was responsible for the three deadly shootings at massage parlors in the metro Atlanta area, police said Tuesday.
Eight people were killed and one person was wounded in the attacks. Two of the shootings were at spas across the street from each other in northeast Atlanta and the other happened about 30 miles away in Cherokee County to the northwest of the city.
“Video footage from our Video Integration Center places the Cherokee County suspect’s vehicle in the area, around the time of our Piedmont Road shootings,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a news release. “That, along with video evidence viewed by investigators, suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody. Because of this, an investigator from APD is in Cherokee County and we are working closely with them to confirm with certainty our cases are related.”
Officials in each jurisdiction said there were no immediate indications of motive.
ATLANTA —
Police arrested a suspect after eight people were killed in shootings at three separate massage parlors in the Atlanta area Tuesday.
Two spas were in Atlanta and one was in Cherokee County. Police said many of the victims were Asian women; Cherokee County officials confirmed to 11Alive there is one suspect for all of the shootings.
Four people were killed and one other injured at Young Asians Massage Parlor in Cherokee County at around 5:00 p.m., officials said. When deputies got there, Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said they found two people who were dead inside, with three others still alive. Emergency crews rushed the three to the hospital, but two of them have since died. The identities of those who were killed have not yet been released, but officials described two as Asian women, one as a White woman and one as a White man. The person still hospitalized was also a man, officials said.
Shortly after, shootings at two Atlanta massage parlors that are across the street from each other on Piedmont Road left four dead. Atlanta Police said three people were killed at the Gold Spa. The fourth person was killed across the street at the Aromatherapy Spa. Those calls came in at 5:47 p.m. and 5:57 p.m., according to Atlanta Police Department’s call sheet. APD said it appears the victims are all Asian women. Although the call came in as a robbery, interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said they are still investigating the motive.
Tuesday evening, Cherokee officials released surveillance pictures of Robert Aaron Long, 21 of Woodstock and asked the public for help locating him.
Spa killing suspect | Robert Long
Just before 9:00 p.m., Cherokee officials said he was arrested in Crisp County, Georgia which is off I-75 in south Central Georgia. Officials told 11Alive’s Jon Shirek they used a PIT maneuver to stop his vehicle.
Long is the lone suspect in both the shootings in Atlanta and Cherokee County, and according to Cherokee County officials, video surveillance at the Atlanta spas show the same man and car that video shows at the Cherokee County spa.
Captured: Suspect in Cherokee Co homicides — Robert Aaron Long, 21, from Woodstock area of unincorporated Cherokee Co. Crisp County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped Long in Crisp County using PIT maneuver. Don’t know yet if Long is also a suspect in ATL. @11AliveNews pic.twitter.com/7mgmFp8nuX
— Jon Shirek (@JonShirek) March 17, 2021
Police have not released a motive, however, one group - Stop AAPI Hate - has already denounced the shooting.
“The reported shootings of multiple Asian American women today in Atlanta is an unspeakable tragedy — for the families of the victims first and foremost, but also for the Asian American community, which has been reeling from high levels of racist attacks over the course of the past year," the group said in a statement. “This latest attack will only exacerbate the fear and pain that the Asian American community continues to endure.”
Atlanta Police said they have since stepped up patrols in the areas near the Piedmont shooting.
