Three Atlanta-area spas were targeted by a shooter on Tuesday that left 8 people dead.
What We Know:
- According to NBC News, the attacks began around 5 p.m., when four people were killed in the suburb of Atlanta known as Acworth. Less than 45 minutes later and 30 miles away, four women were killed in two separate shootings on Piedmont Road, one at Golds Spa and another at Aromatherapy Spa.
- Authorities arrested 21-year-old, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, shortly after the incident about 125 miles south of Atlanta in Crisp County. The Crisp County Sheriff’s Office reports using a PIT maneuver, where a police car is used as a physical barrier to physically stop another vehicle. Officials have not released a motive for the attacks, but have announced that the FBI is working with local investigators to confirm that the shootings were related.
- Six of the unidentified victims appeared to be Asian women and the two others appear to be white. Although it hasn’t been confirmed if the incident was racially targeted, the killings come after a national report from Stop AAPI Hate showed an increasing number of Anti-Asian hate crimes, disproportionately targeting women, erupted across America since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a statement about the shootings that “a crime against any community is a crime against us all.”
- A recent update from investigators stated that Long was headed towards Florida “perhaps to carry out additional shootings.” Police also reported that Long believed he suffered from sex addiction and may have frequent the locations he targeted. He claimed to see the spas as “a temptation … that he wanted to eliminate.”
Long is being held in Cherokee County on four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. He is also facing four counts of murder in Atlanta. Police have increased the number of officers dispatched in all of the locations targeted to check on similar businesses and patrol the area.
