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According to police, it is “very likely” that the same suspect was involved in all three shootings.
These incidents have come about as a result of the recent rise in hate crimes against the Asian American community and persistent fears that Asian-run companies may be targeted.
Four people were killed in a shooting at Young’s Asian Massage Center near Aquworth, a suburb of the capital Atlanta in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt.Jay Baker told the publication that the victims were two Asian women, a Caucasian woman and a Caucasian man. Another Spanish-speaking man was injured.
The Atlanta Police Department separately confirmed that four women were found dead at two spas in northeast Atlanta, referred to in the media as Gold Massage Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa.
“Arriving officers found three women dead at the scene from alleged gunshot wounds,” the Atlanta police department said in a statement.
Officers at the scene were informed of the shooting at a spa across the street, where they found a fourth woman who appears to have been shot.
Police in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said all four victims in Atlanta are Asian.
According to the publication, the suspect was detained about 150 miles from Atlanta. His name is Robert Aaron Long, 21 years old.
RALong was arrested after a “brief manhunt,” according to a report by the Georgia Department of Homeland Security on Facebook.
According to videos of shooting incidents at the three resorts in the Atlanta area, “it is very likely that our suspect is the same as Cherokee County and is under arrest,” police spokesman Sgt. John Chafee told AFP from Atlanta.
He added that the investigators are working closely together “to ensure that our cases are connected.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is assisting with the investigation, a spokesman told AFP.
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