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Eight people were killed in shootings at massage parlors in and around Atlanta, Georgia.
A 21-year-old man suspected of carrying out the three shots has been arrested.
The attacks began around 5 p.m. local time, when five people were shot at the Youngs Asian massage parlor in a shopping center near a rural area in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, the Bureau spokesman said. Cherokee County Sheriff Capt. Jay Baker.
Two people died at the scene and three were taken to the hospital where two more succumbed to their injuries. Captain Baker said two of the dead were Asian women, along with a white woman and a white man.
About 50 minutes later, police called reports of a robbery at the Gold Spa in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood and found the bodies of three women.
While at the scene, they learned of a call reporting shooting at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot and killed inside the business.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said all of the victims of the two attacks in the city appeared to be Asian.
Surveillance cameras captured the same vehicle in all three shootings.
The suspect’s vehicle was captured by surveillance cameras in all three shootings Photo: Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office
Photo: Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office
About two hours after the last attack, Crisp County Police, 150 miles south of Atlanta, were informed that the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was heading their way.
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said deputies and officers installed themselves along the interstate and “contacted the suspect,” who was driving a black 2007 Hyundai Tucson, around 8:30 pm. .
A state trooper performed a PIT, or Pursuit Intervention Technique, “that caused the vehicle to spin out of control,” Hancock said. Long was taken into custody “without incident” and was being held at the Crisp County Jail.
Robert Aaron Long is in custody Photo: Crisp County Sheriff’s Office
The killings came amid a recent wave of attacks on Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.
In New York, a NYPD spokesperson told Sky News they are deploying counterterrorism agents to Asian communities across the city as a precaution after the Atlanta shootings.
