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THE CRIME: Aromatherapy Spa, one of three Asian massages hit by fatal shots on Tuesday. Photo: ERIK S. LESSER / EPA
The man who admitted shooting and murdering eight people in three different massage parlors in Atlanta, according to police, said on questioning that he was a sex addict and wanted to “eliminate the temptation.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was charged Norwegian time Wednesday night with killing multiple people in Georgia.
The first reports of shootings were reported around 5 p.m. Tuesday at a massage parlor between the Georgia cities of Woodstock and Acworth.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. Three were taken to a hospital, two of whom died, according to CNN.
An hour later, a few miles away, Atlanta police rushed to the Gold Massage Spa. There they found the three dead people. At another spa across the street, they found another person dead, according to CNN.
The 21-year-old was caught on surveillance camera and, after a car chase, was arrested and arrested Tuesday night.
POLICE ON SITE: A dead person is picked up from the Gold Massage Spa after the shooting Tuesday night. Photo: Brynn Anderson / AP
“Sexually motivated”
Sex addiction is said to be the motive, Reuters reports.
Several American media, including the NY Times, reported early on that six of the victims were Asian. Therefore, hate crimes were discussed early on as a possible motive, according to local police.
But turn down local police spokesman Jay Baker. On questioning, Long is said to have indicated he had a problem with sexual addiction and therefore the shooting may not have been motivated by racial hatred, Baker said Wednesday.
According to police, Long claimed he had targeted the spas to “eliminate the temptation.” Baker addressed what he believed to be sexual addiction problems in the 21-year-old suspect.
The 21-year-old is said to have taken responsibility for the shooting, Baker said.
The identified victims were between 33 and 54 years old, according to local television channel KIRO 7 News.
ARRESTED: Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested Tuesday night after visiting several massage parlors. Photo: Crisp County Sheriff’s Office via AP
Believe the perpetrator was on his way to shoot more
This could have been significantly worse, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference at Atlanta police headquarters on Wednesday:
“It is very likely that there have been more victims,” he told the Huffington Post.
According to local police, the man was heading to Florida, allegedly to unleash several attacks.
The White House has been briefed on the incident, and Vice President Kamala Harris is among those who have publicly expressed their support.
The FBI is now assisting with a further investigation.
GOLD SPA: Police outside the Gold Massage Spa, one of three Asian massages affected by the deadly attacks. Photo: ERIK S. LESSER / EPA
6th mass murder event in the United States so far in 2021
The Stop AAPI Hate organization said the incident was “an unspeakable tragedy” for the families of the victims and for Asian-American society.
The attack is the sixth mass murder in the United States so far this year. It is also the deadliest since nine people died in Dayton in August 2019, according to a database backed by the AP news agency, USA Today and Northeastern University. Mass killings in the United States are defined as incidents involving four or more people killed.
